Daily Prophets
Day 92
Adonai is the true God; Adonai is the living God and the everlasting Sovereign. At Adonai’s wrath the earth quakes and the nations cannot endure his indignation. Woe to me for my hurt! My wound is severe. I said this is but a sickness and I must bear it. My tent is destroyed, all my cords are broken, my children have gone from me and are no more;…(Jeremiah 10:10,19,20).
In the first verse, Jeremiah is reminding us who Adonai/God is; truth, living and everlasting. There is a Hebrew phrase: God is truth, we can’t have truth on our own, we need God’s guidance. Jeremiah is reminding us that God doesn’t die, God is involved in our daily lives to the extent we allow God to guide us to truth and living well. Finally, God is forever, the Energy that fills the world and our souls with breath and life never dies, never leaves and we are a part of this energy.
God’s wrath is taken as a bad thing by most people, yet, as noted in earlier days, this wrath is a purifying anger, not a retributive anger from hurt ego or need to overpower. Jeremiah’s words are a warning and a call to Judah: Stop your idolatry, stop your power grabs, principles were given to you, follow them or you will destroy yourself. We want to make this about God’s anger, jealousy, etc. and this is convenient so we don’t have to make it about our actions. Blaming another, especially God, is our way of claiming innocence and victimhood.
The last verse is the verse of surrender to me. Jeremiah is speaking for God, himself, and the people, because they all suffered a tremendous wound. The fall of Jerusalem was a tragedy for God as well as the people; for Jeremiah it was so personal, I believe, because he knew it could have been averted, had the people listened to him. When destruction occurs, God cries, the prophets wail and the people, at their highest level of being, take responsibility. We have to be responsible and take the actions of retying the cords, repair the canvas, call the children home and work together to set up a refreshed and renewed tent that includes everyone. A tent where God is worshiped, not power, not prestige, not wealth, not royalty; God sits on God’s Chair and we serve God and the greater good. This is what we, the descendants of the exiles get to do in their name and for their tikun, repair.
Rabbi Heschel speaks about the wrath of God: “It is pictured as a sinister, malignant passion, an evil force, which must under all circumstances be suppressed. The truth, however, is that these features are accretions and exuberances, not its essence… Like fire, it may be a blessing as well as a fatal thing-reprehensible when associated with malice, morally necessary as resistance to malice.”(The Prophets, pg. 280,281). This teaching is so very important to learn and appreciate. Unlike humans who want to make anger into either something sinister, oppressive, and/or controlling, God’s wrath is morally necessary. It is not on a whim that God’s wrath appears, it is always as a last resort to purge the people of their idolatrous and deadly paths/patterns. We tend to make God of the Hebrew Bible a ‘vengeful’ God, yet, in reality as I understand Rabbi Heschel’s teaching, God of the Bible constantly cares for and about humanity and does whatever it takes to help us live better, more connected and purposefully.
In recovery, we know that God is Truth and turning our lives over to God, living God’s principles allows us to grow in spirt, in principle and in love each day. We get to be a servant of God and be of service to another(s), rather than selfish, self-centered and idolatrous. In recovery, we get to serve God after we have experienced the logical consequences of our actions. After we have been idol worshipers and after we have sought the quick fixes, used anger with malice and to gain power over another(s), we have returned and set up a newly repaired tent, with all of its patches to be open like Abraham’s tent was and a reminder of our previous errors and our current connection to and with God and humanity. In recovery, we are aware of both God’s wrath and God’s love and we get to live in God’s love because we have rejected malice and embraced God’s truth.
I have experienced everything involved in these verses. I am in awe of Jeremiah that he could give the people a path and words for their sorrow while sitting in prison and I understand that prison doesn’t quench the words of God that are a part of us. In my case, it gave me the clarity to hear God’s call and begin to follow it. I have rewoven the tent I live in with all of the patches as neon lights that remind me of the way not to go. I also know that my anger is an anger against what is morally reprehensible. It is an anger that, while it may look like it is personal, is brought up when people are engaged in mendacity, evil actions that wound the needy and the poor. It is activated whenever there is sinister, malignant forces around. I am not saying that my anger is pure, it is tinged with the personal because I feel these forces personally. Yet, the activation is from a deep sense of standing up for and standing with those being taken advantage of. I know Jeremiah’s response to being called by the people who put him in prison, I know the “fire in the belly” that can’t be quenched, and I know the pain that comes from it. How are you using anger to purify and the energy to repair your tent and welcome God back into your daily living? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark