Daily Prophets
Day 66
“For the earth was polluted under its inhabitants, because they transgressed the teachings(Torah), violated the statures and broke the everlasting covenant. That is why a curse consumes the earth, the inhabitants suffer for their guilt, the earth’s dwellers have dwindled and few men are left.”(Isaiah 24:6-7)
These words are a description of what the consequences of our actions are for the entire world. We transgress God’s teachings, we bastardize the ways that God has laid out for us to live and we pollute the earth. This is the same language as what was used at the time of the Flood, in Genesis. We pollute the world and everything in it, Isaiah is teaching us. Yet, we still don’t hear and heed these words. We, humans, are so full of ourselves that we forget we are to be responsible to and for the lessons that God has given us. The lessons of decency, kindness, compassion, care, truth, justice and love.
When we break the statutes and laws as well as the teachings, we have hit the trifecta of negativity. Yet, our hubris doesn’t allow us to see the damage we bring to ourselves, another(s), and even the world itself.
Each time we break the covenant we made with God, a curse comes upon the earth. The curse takes many forms, natural disasters, man-made disasters, health crisis’, spiritual crisis’, mental health crisis’, etc. What so many of us don’t realize is that we all suffer from these curses, especially those who think that they are right, they are not suffering, they are not responsible for their neighbor, they can secure themselves from any harm coming to them.
This is a lie so many of us tell ourselves so that we don’t have to be responsible and we can blame another(s) for their own troubles and suffering. We do this so can hide from ourselves and God, yet there is no hiding. Suffering guilt allows us to take responsibility, do T’Shuvah(amends), and change our paths and patterns. Then we will/can stop the flow of the curse, reinstate living by the teachings(Torah) of God and renewing our covenant with God.
Rabbi Heschel says that these words of Isaiah demonstrate “the sickness and liability of man. Israel is under judgement; the covenant with God must not be taken as immunity from judgement.”(The Prophets pigs 172-3). These words are resonating inside of me and crashing into the false pride and false ego that also lives in me. We all have this sickness, and without proper spiritual care and discipline, it will grow and destroy us and all around us.
Our political leaders, many of them, seem to think that their attachment to “the family” and to Jesus “as the lion” gives them carte blanche to violate the teachings, statutes and laws of God. Their covenant is not with God, rather it is with their false image of God. They are suffering the sickness that Rabbi Heschel is speaking about and think that they are the healthy ones. They are polluting our soil, the soul of our country, they are breaking the spirit and covenant(Declaration of Independence) that our country was founded on. Yet, they continue to deny voting rights, promote lynchings, spew hate and obstruct any positive legislation. They continue practices which enhanced white supremacy after the Civil War and call themselves “good christians”. We, the People, have to say NO to these polluters of our soil and our soul.
In recovery, we are so aware of our covenant and how we have transgressed God’s teachings, laws and statutes. We know that we not only impact and affect ourselves, we touch so many lives that we are not aware of. We learn this when we do our first inventory and we see, read and write down the ways we have wronged another(s), God and ourselves. We see the reach of our actions and become humble, make amends(Tshuvah), and change our behaviors, thinking and feeling. We take responsibility not only for the destruction, we take responsibility for the rebuilding of trust, love, justice, kindness, decency, compassion and truth with God and with another(s) human beings. We repair the damage so the world we inhabit doesn’t suffer anymore from the curses we have put on it.
I have been living, learning and teaching God’s Torah(teachings) for the past 34+ years. I have continued and do continue to make mistakes, transgress the teachings(Torah) at times, etc. This is not a flaw, it is my humanity. We are not asked to be perfect by Isaiah, we are called upon to continue learning and doing the teachings, laws and statutes. While there have been times that I have been sick as Rabbi Heschel describes above, I have also been healed through God’s teachings and the help of another(s). We all need to realize when and how we are sick so we can seek the proper healing. This is my one of my greatest achievements, I have been able to help people find the healing they need through the teachings(Torah) of God, even when I have fallen short. How are you breaking the Covenant with God and how are you keeping it? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark