Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 59
“It is true that His concern, is to most of us, one of the most baffling mysteries, but it is just as true that to those whose life is open to God His care and love are a constant experience.”(Man is Not Alone pg. 144)
This is the end of yesterday’s quote and again, Rabbi Heschel’s poetry and prose, wisdom and insight pierce the armor many of us have put around our souls and hearts to protect ourselves from hurt. Yet, as I hear and understand Rabbi Heschel’s words, this protection from hurt closes us off to and from God, from care and love from the Ineffable One and from another human being(s). Herein lies the conflict for many of us, if we are vulnerable and open, we will be hurt by many/some people; we will find our souls hurt deeply by people we open up to and trust, sometimes unintentionally and sometimes intentionally; we will have our hearts broken by the love and care we give to another(s) and find we have been “used” and were not aware of the transactional nature of the relationship; all of these will happen and all of these experiences are real and hurtful. Yet, Rabbi Heschel’s words are teaching us/reminding us that God’s love and care, God’s concern and passion for our spiritual and moral state of being, are the one constant we can relay upon.
Wow, as I write these words I am immediately aware of how some people will read these words. The Greco-Roman society use god as a tool for power, as a proof of the appointment of the current leaders because they are stronger, wilier, slicker, etc. They are not leaders because of the high moral and spiritual stature nor ideals/beliefs; they are leaders because they could defeat their predecessors in war, politics, using hatred, lies, deception, etc to win at any and all costs. While this is a path that some people still choose, as they have over the millennia, Rabbi Heschel is again calling for us to have true faith, not faith that is contingent upon the outcome, rather faith/belief in the experiences of our living: God cares, God loves, God is concerned with each and every one of us.
This is such a chilling thought and an exhilarating experience! While there are charlatans who use this teaching to promote their own agendas rather than God’s or another soul’s, we “whose life is open to God” know the joy of God’s embrace, the warmth of God’s concern, the spiritual uplift of God’s love. The fact that God’s concern is, “one of the most baffling mysteries” doesn’t stop us from experiencing it! In fact, I am hearing Rabbi Heschel teach us to stop trying to figure out the mystery and be present in the experience. Every time someone asks ‘how are you’ we can experience God’s concern, every time we ask someone ‘how are you’ we are expressing God’s concern! In this experience, we no longer just say it as a throw away line, we take the time and intention to respond truthfully and ask earnestly. How can we be recipients of God’s love, care and concern and not share it with another? This is the Greco-Roman way, not the way of people of faith and who truly worship the Ineffable One.
While some people say God doesn’t care, Rabbi Heschel’s words confront that faulty thinking. Some of the people who say God doesn’t care finish the sentence with ‘that is why we must’. I am hearing and knowing the truth of Rabbi Heschel’s words above: God cares so we must care, God loves so we must love, God is concerned with our spiritual and moral well-being so we must be concerned with our spiritual and moral well-being as well as the well-being of our family, friends, community, world!
In recovery, we know this embrace and we are lost without it. We know that God had been trying to get our attention for a while and brought us to recovery through the love, care and concern of another human being. While very few of us hear God’s call directly from the mountain, all of us hear God’s call through another person. In AA that person is called our eskimo, the one who guides us to our recovery even when we are not happy about it nor with them! In recovery, we have the experience of God’s love, care, concern each and every day and we continue to improve our conscious contact with God so as to be enwrapped in this experience more and deeper each day.
I know that I am embraced by God’s love, care and concern and I know there are times when I forget this truth, by falling into extreme sadness that borders on despair. I have come to realize today that despair is a rejection of God’s love, care and concern while sadness is not. Sadness over the people who have been more Greco-Roman than faithful to a covenant is appropriate, making them bad, wrong, and me a victim is not appropriate and I am guilty of both. I know how blessed I am and I rejoice in my blessings: my daughter, my grandson, my family, my extended family, my friends, my community, my gifts, my recovery, my amazing and adorable wife, and on and on. Knowing I am blessed forces me to confront the times I feel bad because I am not feeling God’s care and love and see the ways I deceive myself into believing this lie- I am always able to experience God’s care, love and concern because it is always here for me and for you! God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark