Proof Of God

EREV YOM KIPPUR
A friend of mine whose opinions matter to me informs me that he has no plan to go to shul on Yom Kippur, he'll be working, and worked as well on Rosh HaShanah. He doesn't particularly believe in God, and even if he did, it would be hypocritical, he says, to change his behavior on one or two days a year to try to please Him.
I believe it's natural and totally acceptable to struggle with God, what He means and how he manifests Himself. God doesn't reveal Himself or overtly intervene in our lives-- stopping wars or genocide, thwarting hurricanes or earthquakes -- because h]He wants us to come to Him through logic and reason and not simply by rote training, although a majority of religious people today probably do the latter. Despite my own doubts I have never been able to dismiss the idea of God, despite many influential people I've met who are atheists.
The reason is clear: We choose the kind of world we want to live in, and in mine I can't accept a world spinning out of control, with no Divine intervention and human beings left to our own devices, like children left home alone with parents who will never return.
This is a logical as well as emotional point. Watch the news each day and ponder the ability of human beings to destroy ourselves and each other; the health and environmental risks we create and endure; the hatred we foment among ourselves; the destructive power we create and all too often harness.
It is now 60 years since the advent of the most destructive weapon ever created, and somehow it has only been used for war twice, and in a single conflict. Mankind now possesses more firepower than it would take to annihilate all life on this planet, and yet something has held us back from doing so. Not for lack of instinct. In 1963 two mighty fleets headed for a showdown in the Cuban missile crisis. Despite the savagery of the war that ended only eight years prior and the hatred and paranoia fueled for years on both sides, reason somehow prevailed, we are still here, and human endeavour for good is thriving, enough so that you are able to read this through a technology no one could have imagined 25 years ago.
There can't ever be absolute proof of God. But the fact that you and I are here today, somewhat against the odds, is to me a pretty good indication.