Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 27
“It is not true that all men are at all times at the mercy of their ego, that promoting their own prosperity is all they can do. It is not true that in conflicts of honesty and expediency the first is always defeated.” (Man is Not Alone pg.140).
I am enthralled with the ideas presented above. Rabbi Heschel wrote these words after the Holocaust, after Hiroshima. Being a witness to the cruelest treatment of fellow human beings that had ever happened; Rabbi Heschel, a survivor of the horror, still has hope and sees truth. How easy is it to paint everyone, everything with the paint of their worst actions. We see this all the time when public figures make errors, it is front page news and the spotlight rarely speaks about the good they have done, only the negativity. Rabbi Heschel is telling us that we, the people, can stop being at the mercy of our egos that revel in the schadenfreude of someone else’s downfall. We, the people, can instead rise above our egos and remind ourselves and another(s) of the good this public figure has done.
How much more do we need to stop being at the mercy of our egos when we have felt hurt, betrayed, abused by another person’s egocentric behaviors? How much more do we need to stop promoting our own prosperity and see the needs of the people around us and the people we don’t even know? I am thinking about the kids who are impoverished because parents have to/choose to work so hard to make ends meet/live in luxury. I am thinking of the times we fall for the deception by another, fall into our self-deceptive thinking and believe mendacity is the best path. I am thinking about the times we contribute to the hurt, betrayal, etc of ourselves through inaction, co-dependency and/or a belief that we deserve it because we are lesser human beings! There is no such thing as a lesser human being in God’s world ergo-we have to cease and desist from seeing ourselves and/or another as lesser. This is another way we can stop being at the mercy of our egos. We get to stop being at the mercy of our egos when we can own our part in our interactions; take our responsibility, do our T’Shuvah and not need to blame and shame another. Not being at the mercy of our egos is a simple thought, a holy action and is really hard to accomplish at times.
We live in times where expediency seems to trump truth and honesty is for suckers. While this experience was true when Rabbi Heschel wrote these words, it was true before Rabbi Heschel’s time and it seems true today. With social media, “alternative facts” people spewing out anything that they think people want to hear to make money, get elected, feel important, etc, honesty/truth seems to have lost to expediency. Yet, it hasn’t, we are blessed with modern day prophets, in Rabbi Heschel’s shadow, in Rev. King’s shadow who are reminding us of truth/honesty and the dangers and perils of falling into the clutches of expediency. We are blessed with people who are willing to reach across the aisle to meet someone face to face and discuss with civility our similarities and our differences. We have a majority of people who vote for truth, who are willing to give their fair share to the poor and the needy as the Bible teaches us. We have a majority of people who believe the search for truth goes hand in hand with the search for God. I believe Rabbi Heschel is correct, I believe in the power of the human spirit to triumph over ego, need for prosperity and expediency.
In recovery, we know and base our lives on this teaching, albeit we don’t know the teaching per se. We are constantly seeking out our self-seeking and egotistical thoughts and actions in our daily affairs. We look for the nuances that cause us to hide from the insidious nature of giving in to false ego and expediency. After a while, in recovery, what was glaring before becomes very subtle and we have to search fearlessly and truthfully for the ways we are at the mercy of our egos, living lives of expediency and seeking prosperity at any and all costs. We get to, in our recovery, keep growing along spiritual lines so we can connect with another person, especially our family and friends with truth and love. In recovery, we are victorious each day in our path of not being at the mercy of our egos, giving in to expediency, etc.
What a relief to read this today, in this time and to give another person the benefit of the doubt that they can rise above their egos, own prosperity, and expediency to do the next right thing. I think about my own need to serve another human being because I am called to, compelled to do this-not for their gratitude, not for accolades (though they are nice), but because I cannot live with myself when I don’t fulfill this need. Over these past 33 years, I have been blessed to be able to rise above ego, prosperity, expediency to honor truth, the soul of another person and God. I realized a long time ago, turning my will and my life over to the care of God, nullifying my will before God’s will so God’s will becomes my will meant I have to serve God by caring for and about another human being(s). I also have made a decision in the past and do so now again, to leave the prison of resentments and release forgiveness and love to those who I feel have hurt me. I do this because it is a way of me not being at the mercy of my hurt ego, not being a martyr and owning my part. Not always perfectly, not always cleanly and always working to serve God and another has been the way I have lived this teaching of Rabbi Heschel. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark