Daily Prophets
Day 97
“God, You know-remember me, protect me, avenge me on those who persecute me…When Your words were offered, I devoured them, Your word brought me the joy and delight of knowing Your name is attached to me. Why must my pain be endless, my wound incurable…they will attack you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver and save you, declares God.”(Jeremiah 15:15,16,18,20).
Jeremiah is so distraught over his ‘friends’ the people he was trying to save from ruin, exile, death turning against him, he asks God to take revenge and protect him. He is both afraid and angry-for himself more than for God in this moment, I believe. Had he just asked for protection, he could make a great case, when he asks for vengeance on top of protection, he has moved from being God’s prophet to being human. This is not a knock on Jeremiah, it actually makes his Prophet role more powerful to me. Rising above our individual needs to serve God and another(s) is the challenge for all of us and Jeremiah is up to the challenge, usually; just not in this case.
The second verse quoted above is Jeremiah reminding himself, more than God I believe, of the great gift and awesome responsibility he has been given and his experience of joy and delight in being chosen by God, by being spoken to by God, by being attached to God. These words are ringing in my ears, my body and my soul. We all get this same gift, we all have this awesome responsibility and we all can experience being in communication and attached to God. In Judaism, we get there by, as Rabbi Heschel teaches, immersing ourselves in the texts we engage with. Being in the text means that it is happening within me, to me and I am part of the experience, learning and community.
Jeremiah, after remembering the gift of hearing God’s Words and the joy of attachment to God, goes back to his own pain. He is so broken at this moment by the betrayal of the people he trusted, the people who he thought knew him, he cannot stay with God, rather he complains and blames God for the pain and wounds. While there is truth to what he is saying, carrying God’s message throughout the land is the cause of his woes, he is crying out in deep pain rather than blame, I believe.
The last verse above is God’s reminder to Jeremiah that God will protect him and deliver him. God doesn’t say where or how, just a call to Jeremiah to stop his pity party and get back to the work at hand. God’s faith in Jeremiah, God’s appreciation for the sacrifice Jeremiah is making is apparent in these words to me. God is telling him, I know it is going to be difficult and seem even more overwhelming, I have not left you, I am with you and don’t get paralyzed by fear, pain, etc.
Rabbi Heschel teaches: “the anger had become the prophet’s own, rather than remaining a true reflection of the divine pathos…Divine forbearance and human indignation conflicted, and the prophet had to be told that God was concerned with the disciplining, not the destruction of His adversaries; it was not for the business of the prophet to recommend that the Lord punish, but that he test and purify.”(the Prophets pg. 126). This is so important to remember that we are trusted advisors, not judge and jury forever. Even Jeremiah, the prophet, should not be recommending punishment on God’s adversaries to God because he was a trusted advisor to help test and purify the people, not punish. Human anger is, at times, retributive, God’s anger is restorative. Hence the debate going on in our country forever, is our court system to restore dignity to victim and perpetrator alike or is it to punish both of them? God gives Jeremiah the formula for return which I understand is a gift of love and forbearance, just as God has for all people. This is the unconditional love of God, to and for me, always wanting our return and always taking us back.
In recovery, being at trusted servant is the joy and pinnacle of our newfound beingness. We acknowledge that the One in charge is God and we have to seek and find God in our own way and on our own terms. We are the recipients of God’s unconditional love of return and acceptance. We experience the joy of being attached to God when we don’t have to hate those who hate us, we don’t have to hurt those who want to hurt us, we are open to their amends as people have been open to ours. I bold the have so as to differentiate between a normal human reaction that we let go of quickly and the error of Jeremiah in today’s reading.
I know that call for my enemies to be destroyed, I did it a lot in my previous life. I have even fallen prey to it in my recovery. The difference being, in my previous life, I let this call destroy me, today I don’t. What I am focused on is being attached to God. My “delight of knowing God’s name is attached to me” brings me out of the pain of my ‘friends’ turning against me and trying to destroy me. I hear God calling to me, when I am stuck in the pain and need for vengeance and recognition, to return and take my rightful place as a messenger and a trusted servant-rising above my personal hurts to serve God in my unique way. It takes me a while sometimes, especially this past 14 months, and I am here today, tomorrow and all the days ahead! Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark