Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 48
“It is the sense of the ineffable that leads us beyond the horizon of personal interests, helping us to realize the absurdity of regarding the ego as an end.”(Man is Not Alone, pg. 142).
“Realizing the absurdity of regarding the ego as an end” is both brilliant and a warning to all of us. Our reality is that most people do not realize this absurdity. Most people either regard the ego as an end, satisfaction of one’s desires is a cherished value to some, or they are oblivious to the people who do and use them/us for their benefits only and these oblivious become enamored with the mendacity of the people who regard their ego as an end and use anyone and everyone they can to feed their insatiable ego.
Ego is not bad in and of itself, reason is not bad in and of itself, manipulation is not bad in and of itself, what makes any of these entities bad is how we, humans, use them. God gave us ego and a healthy ego is the source of some of the greatest discoveries and cures humans have made happen. It takes a healthy ego to leave Egypt, England, to discover the ‘new world’, to leave one’s home for a better life in a foreign country, etc. It takes a healthy ego to be a pioneer in any field of endeavor, in any exploration.
Ego only becomes bad/corrupted when we regard “the ego as an end.” When we are so focused on self, so enamored with ourselves and see our ego needs as the only think important to fulfill do we become dangerous to ourselves and to another(s). When our egos are so full of themselves, when we see/believe our egos are the only ends that even need to be fulfilled do we become bullies, aggressors, power-hungry, engage in willful blindness, enslave another person(s) to do our will/bidding, etc. While many people try to hide their egocentric behaviors, it has become in fashion lately to flaunt our egotism, to surround oneself with sycophants, to coerce good people into doing their bidding and tarnishing themselves. We see this in politics, in business, in organizations, in families, etc.
It is very sad to see how “regarding the ego as an end” is ruining our democratic norms; breaking down employees who work hard and keep getting the short end of the stick; changing the mission of some organizations from their original mission to help to the new mission of keeping their jobs/organization afloat; how members of families live in terror of one or another member who rages when their ego needs are not met and/or enslaves the other members of the family to serve them out of fear of loss. Many people continue to use reason to serve their ego as an end, they manipulate people through coercion, persuasion, bribery, etc to do their bidding, to feed their ego. What Rabbi Heschel is teaching us, I believe, is to use our ego to serve the ineffable, to use our reason to serve our souls, to use manipulation to put our spiritual, emotional and mental structure back in sync like a chiropractor manipulates our body to get in back in sync.
Our egos are means to an end, meeting the Ineffable One at a concern, our egos and reason can support our soul/spiritual knowledge and course. In fact, our egos are essential in pushing us forward on our spiritual course, moving us forward to “being present at a concern of God:, moving us forward in connection and love. Ego and reason are tools to serve our soul’s interest, our spiritual calling, acting on our “sense of the ineffable”. Our world is going through a depression right now, a depression of spirit, a depression of “being present at a concern of God”, a depression in honoring and revering those who have helped us get where we are, the good people who gave their lives in wars, who suffered from discrimination and did not stand down, the majority of people who vote for decency and justice, the leaders of different movements/organizations that send up for and serve the infinite worth of every human being-erasing the artificial margins we try and put up between “us and them”. It is our ego strength and our reasoning used in the service of our souls, used in the service of the Ineffable One, used in the service of another human being(s) that can and must raise us all out of this depression. It is what Rabbi Heschel did in conjunction with Rev. King, Father Berrigan, Rev Sloane and Dr. Bennett in forming CALCAV. We can and must rise up again and face down the lies, the power, the falseness of these EGO driven people today who are ruining our world, going against the call of God and the needy, the poor, the stranger, etc. and stand up for Decency, Democracy and Devotion to the Ineffable One.
In recovery, when our egos are seen as ends, we say we are “easing God out” of our lives and our actions. Prior to recovery, our egos were the only ends we served and our recovery is based on how well we can use our egos to serve God, to serve another and to serve our authentic self. In recovery, we continue to grow along spiritual lines so we can be of maximum service to another, to God and to our self.
I have dedicated my ego to serving God for these past 35 years, since I was arrested and, while I am not always successful, I see how far I have come in this time. I am not a victim, I do not need to be right most of the time, I use my reason ,my manipulations and my ego to serve more than myself, I use them to serve God, to serve another and I remain grateful for the life I have today. I heal and deal with life as it comes today and I not afraid to admit my errors, which is the test of my ego working for my soul or for itself. God Bless and Stay safe, Rabbi Mark