Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 90
“God is unwilling to be alone, and man cannot forever remain impervious to what He longs to show. Those of us who cannot keep their striving back find themselves at times within the sight of the unseen and become aglow with its rays. Some of us blush, others wear a mask. Faith is a blush in the presence of God.” (Man is Not Alone pg. 91)
For “those of us who cannot keep their striving back” we can be joyous and proud at our path of choosing spiritual bypass surgery and allowing a physician of the soul and/or our own self to perform this life-saving deed. Rabbi Heschel’s words above are a warning as well as a call to action. I think sometimes we miss the warning by diving into the action too quickly. Not keeping our striving back is a very important action, not blocking our soul, our being from connecting to something greater than ourselves, is an important way to live a life of purpose and meaning, be it through connection with the Creative Force of the Universe, our higher consciousness, God, friendships, etc.
Many people are very desperate to “find themselves at times within the sight of the unseen” because they experience life with such despair, depression, emptiness and need to know more. Those who feel empty, depressed, and despairing are seeking a way out of their current experience and a way out of their mental state. Many are unaware of their need for spiritual bypass because they do not understand their situation as a spiritual malady. While medication and therapy are important tools, at times, for this condition, I believe when people “find themselves at times within the sight of the unseen and become aglow with its rays” depression, despair and emptiness fall away and people see hope, possibilities and connection. When we are willing to open up our hearts, allow our souls to come out of the prison we have placed them in, we can become “aglow with its rays” and light a path of meaning, purpose and service for ourselves and for humanity. However, to do this, we have to let go of our old ideas, see today as a new day, not take for granted what life has in store for us and be open to the awe and wonder God has provided for us today.
For the people who need to know more, this “striving” can become a way of boosting their self0serving ego. Many people, in their self-deceptive and mendacious ways, put up a front of serving the greater good, all the while lining their pockets and caring only about themselves. Case in point, Jared Kushner did a good thing with the Abraham Accords and he got rewarded by getting the money to bail out his poor investment in 666 5th Avenue purchase. We see this happen all the time in politics, in the way some investment firms care only about the commissions they can make, not the safeguarding of the assets people have entrusted them with and they do make the assets grow. We see this with people who are donors and board members of non-profits and, instead of supporting the non-profit, believe they know what is best for it and how to run it. In these cases, the CEO, the founder has to either bow down to these people or be fired, retired, etc. While there is a lot of good that happens from these types of donors, they do it for their sake, for their power, to prove ‘the one with the gold rules’.
Still others are seeking a short-cut to “find themselves within sight of the unseen and become aglow with its rays”, through drugs, alcohol, etc. So many people who have used hallucinogens speak about their trips and how they ‘saw’ God and the universe, etc. LSD, Ayahuasca, Mushrooms, PCP, Peyote, Ketamine to name a few are being used as Clinical Interventions for some medical conditions and they are shortcuts to the Divine. Does this make them less legitimate, who knows? I do know that artificial shortcuts to connection to spirit have led many people to “jails, institutions and death” as well as living an addicted life-style that harms them and their families, friends and community. Spiritual connection, spiritual bypass surgery has been around for the millennia and is authentic, soul-empowering and mind-altering as well as heart opening. It allows us to see the humanity in another and in our self.
In recovery, our striving is greater and greater each and every day. We have a formula of prayer, meditation, service and connection through phone calls, meetings and fellowship. We become intoxicated with God, continually seeking knowledge of God’s will and how to carry it out. We “come to believe that a Power Greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity” as the 2nd Step of AA teaches. That power is the unseen and our connection to it makes us “aglow with its rays” that we can share with another and use in our daily living.
I am constantly aware of my/the human tendency to see God’s work as my own. I am also blessed to spend much of my time being “aglow with its rays” after connecting to God, to another human being, to my own soul. I have acted in self-interest in my striving because without my striving, I would be lost in the darkness of my negativity, the pain of the betrayals, and the sadness of aloneness. I have acted in self-interest in my striving to gain things for myself as well and I have done my t’shuvah with the people and with God for these actions. T’Shuvah is an act of striving to find ourselves within the sight of the unseen and become aglow with its rays. May we all do T’Shuvah for our missing the marks and hitting the marks in 2021. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark