Daily Prophets
Day 23
“Ephraim is addicted to images/idols-let him be. They turn to drunkenness. They whore themselves out and against God. They love beyond measure.”(Hosea 4:16, 17)
The prophet is calling Ephraim to account by telling the People Israel who they are and what they are doing. When I say, who they are, I do not mean at their core, I mean who they have become by hiding from their core beingness. Hosea is so upset by the situation in Israel, he is indicting the entire nation. He is holding all of the people responsible for what the leaders are doing. I believe he is trying to get the people to rise up against the oppressors in their midst and inside of themselves.
Hosea’s constant reminder of the people’s whoredom is to let them know that when they are engaging in indiscriminate sex, they are being unfaithful to God. The idea that my ‘religious’ and/or spiritual life is separate from my ‘real’ life is anathema to Hosea and, by extension, to God.
Hosea adds new wrinkles to our whoredom. Addicted to image, booze, love all are signs of idolatry to Hosea. He is telling us what happens when we put anything before or more important than Adonai. When we turn from God, according to how I experience these verses, we turn to addiction, image-consciousness, booze and sexual impropriety. None of these things are necessarily bad in and of themselves, they are terrible when we engage in them out of proper measure.
We are living in a time where whoring ourselves out is almost commonplace. In DC, State Capitals, cities and towns, politicians will push through legislation in order to help the people who donate the most to them. Our last tax cut did nothing to help most people except the rich, famous and corporations and it happened because the Mega-Donors to the Republicans wanted it. CEO’s have to do what their shareholders want, not always what is best for everyone, otherwise they are out of a job. People stay in jobs because they are afraid to lose their paycheck, health insurance, etc. Paying outrageous sums of money to get one’s child into the “right” schools from pre-school to college and those bribes being accepted.
Image is more important than substance to most people. We buy the image and the lies that people show us. We believe the lies and image that we show others. We are more interested in keeping up with the Kardashians than we are with keeping up with God and our authentic self. We have become People of the Lie as Dr. M. Scott Peck writes about in his book of the same name. We buy the lies and images of others and we tell lies about who we are.
Drinking and indiscriminate sex go hand in hand. They have been issues forever, remember Noah. What they both do is help us turn away from God for our own desires. In the third paragraph of the Shema, we are told to ‘not scout out after our hearts and our eyes because we will whore after them’ precisely because these issues of excessive drinking and sex are so dangerous, seductive and idolatrous.
Recovery is the antidote to Hosea’s indictment. It is not a defense, it is the rehabilitation needed to return from these insidious crimes/disease. Recovery is turning back to God. Recovery is living a life of principles and hope. Recovery is living a life of authenticity and transparency. Recovery is constantly and consistently checking in with oneself to see how our inner life is doing and to ensure we are living with integrity in all of our affairs.
Reading these verses and hearing Hosea’s voice and God’s voice, I am scared. I am scared not of punishment, rather I am scared that our actions are causing this type of sorrow to God and to others. I know that we are all guilty of these behaviors at any given moment. I am scared that most of us don’t realize how we are guilty and only blame and accuse ‘them’ of these crimes.
I am scared because I, once again, realize the war I have been waging within me to resist these ways of being. I left the crime and the booze (actually they left me), I have not left all of the ways of being and thinking that Hosea articulates. I have whored myself to raise money to help people in need. I have agreed with people about things that I know to be wrong. I have allowed the enemy of my enemy to be my friend when convenient. I became addicted to my image and my way of being. I allowed myself to be a caricature of me and laughed about it when I should have been hearing God’s call to me to stop. I have done these things in my recovery. I know this.
I know that I have used my program of recovery to do T’shuvah each time I have engaged in these behaviors. I know that the return to God has been joyous and always met with open arms. I know that the love of family and real friends is so much better than the instant gratification then pain caused by falseness and whoring. Finding our “whoring” ways and our paths to “being drunk” are necessary for us to be able to return. God and the world needs the real me and you. May we find our authenticity now! Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark