Daily Meditation: Sunday, February 1, 1998

When Joseph, son of Jacob, became minister to the pharaoh, …

02/01/1998

When Joseph, son of Jacob, became minister to the pharaoh, he was recognized as a man of great wisdom and was asked to interpret the pharaoh's dreams. The pharaoh had seen seven fat cows and then seven lean cows which devoured them. And Joseph explained: ‘This means that there will be seven years of great plenty throughout the kingdom of Egypt. But they will be followed by seven years of sterility and famine. I therefore advise that granaries be prepared to store a great portion of the harvests amassed over the seven years of plenty. In this way, when the years of famine come, Egypt will have all it needs to survive.' And the pharaoh followed this advice. This ebb and flow also occurs ceaselessly in our own personal lives: there are fruitful days, then barren ones, followed once again by days that are fruitful. Those who take no precautions will find themselves destitute, whereas for those who have built up some reserves, these days of deprivation and inner difficulty can be as beneficial and fertile as the others. Always anticipate and plan ahead; maintain some resources for any days of shortage that may come. And it is not sufficient to apply this to the physical plane alone; we must take it into account on the spiritual plane as well.