In the year 1263, the Ramban debated against Pablo Christiani, in front of King James of Aragon, in Spain. Ramban said that Hashem gives us the choice between good and evil because He has confidence in us that we can choose, with our own "seychel" - free will - to do the right thing. The very fact that G-d gives us so many mitzvos shows that He believes that we can live on a high level. If we perform the commandments, G-d will "provide rain in its proper time, the land will give its produce and the tree of the field will give its fruit." It seems that Hashem is paying us to keep the commandments! Not true. If we keep the commandments, He will invest in us by giving us the food, shelter and protection to continue following His Torah. He will give us another day of life with which to do his mitzvos and fulfil our potential.

The first word a Jew says in the morning is "modeh", which comes from the root word "todah" - meaning thankfulness. We thank G-d for returning our souls to us this morning. After all, He didn't have to. He has, in His wisdom, given us another chance to further our life goal of working toward our potential, by presenting us with a new day of spectacular adventure.

Adventure? The first thought that usually enters my mind in the morning is "I can't believe it's morning already" (straight denial mode). Can't I hit the snooze bar and delay this adventure for a few more hours? The key to waking up inspired is to understand the word "modeh".

The first ingredient for any successful relationship is acknowledgement and recognition of the other party as an entity apart from yourself. Recognising G-d as a real, rather than as a theoretical entity, puts us into a mind-set to begin relating to Him directly. This acknowledgement, found in the word "modeh", brings with it a sense of humility and gratitude which reminds us that we did not create ourselves, rather we get our energy from a Source outside of ourselves. That Source is our Creator, and when we say modeh, we acknowledge and thank Him for re-creating us this morning. When we say modeh, we are responding to G-d's challenge, which is nothing less than to re-create our self image.

The second word a Jew says in the morning is "ani" - I. After we acknowledge G-d as our Source, we can then begin to personally relate to G-d. This word "ani" creates within us a self awareness and appreciation of our own existence. We must be important -- we actually have an opportunity to speak to the Chairman of the Board. We can relate to Him directly, we don't even have to make an appointment with His secretary. No waiting, a direct line with Him. All we have to do is pick up the phone: "Modeh ani - I thank You."

Most people have accepted Western terminology claiming a person's "right to life". The pro-life movement speaks of a fetus' right to life. The American Declaration of Independence speaks of the "right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". A "right" may be thought of as "freedom of action which others are morally bound to respect and protect". In Judaism, we speak not of "rights" but of "mitzvos" - duties and obligations. Rights arise out of a deserving act or deed, which causes one to earn the right to a reward. Our traumatic yet brief journey down the birth canal can hardly be seen as our earning our place in this world. As far as I can remember, we didn't have too much choice whether we wanted to make the journey. Our lives were handed to us at birth. It was an undeserved gift from G-d, in partnership with our parents.

We don't have a right to life. Just because we have been here until now does not guarantee that we will be here 10 seconds from now. G-d is not obligated to continue sustaining us in life just because He has done so until now. He keeps us alive out of pure altruistic love for us - His creatures, His children. Every breath, if it is measured and appreciated, can infuse our lives with meaning and awe.

As we conclude these opening words of Modeh Ani, we make an incredible statement: "Abundant is your faithfulness." Wait! Shouldn't we be saying "abundant is my faithfulness"? Isn't it our obligation to have faith in G-d? What's all this about G-d's faithfulness? The truth is that Hashem does have faith - in us. G-d believes in us. He proved it by restoring our lives to us this morning, precisely because He does have faith that we can succeed. He believes that we can succeed in developing ourselves and play our part in His plan for the world. Let's have none of this false modesty stuff. Hashem has faith in us, so don't we have the right to have faith in ourselves?