Daily Prophets
Day 146
“Human, these men have set up idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces; should I let Myself be ask by all of them? …Thus says the Lord God; everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart… and comes to the prophet; I the Lord will respond to…That I may catch the house of Israel in their own heart because they are all estranged from me through their idols…Thus says the Lord God; Repent and turn yourselves away from your idols and turn your faces from all your abominations.”(Ezekiel 14:3,4,5,6)
The power of this prophecy is the message it gives to the people/remnant of Jews in Babylon and in Israel; to return, to let go of their idolatry, etc.
The problem with idolatry, as God reminds us in the first verse above, is that it begins in our hearts! As Moses said to us in Numbers 15:39, “Do not follow your heart and your eyes in your lustful urge”. We desire something, anything so badly that our hearts/minds find ways to justify the behaviors necessary to obtain/satiate our “lustful urges”. These urges can be comprised of anything; power, prestige, fame, etc; and they all lead us astray and are stumbling blocks we put in front of our faces/feet.
We all are guilty of doing this, at one time or another, in a greater or lessor degree. God is speaking to those of us who make it a habit to worship their idols and set themselves up to serve themselves only. While they may “look good” and be on the “right side” of causes and mitzvoth; these are people who do things for their own sake, not the sake of God. These are people who are so arrogant as to think they fool God and humans alike. Yet, as stated above, God knows and because God knows, another(s) human being will know and then another, etc. Idolators are found out and, while not always dealt with in our time and in our desired manner-they suffer for their iniquity and idolatry.
God’s wish, as I understand the second and third verses above, is that the idolators, the people who keep stumbling over their iniquity come to God and connect with God. God wants the people to end their estrangement from God. As I am writing this, I realize this is the call of every parent who feels estranged from their children because of the missing the mark of both parties, I realize this is the call of every sibling, lover, friend when someone is missing the mark with them. I realize this call to be the call of love, care, compassion, kindness and truth. Yet, this call so often falls on deaf ears. It is hard to hear the call to end our estrangement from another(s), including God, when we are unable to hear the call of our inner life/soul to end our estrangement from ourselves.
How do we end this estrangement? Repent, return and have new responses, ie T’Shuvah. This is the path God reminds us of in this chapter, again. It is a constant call of God to people, COME BACK, the door is always open; yet we seem to like the iniquity and idols we set up better than to answer God’s call once and for all time. We keep going back and forth because of our desire to live in our own mendacity, our own lies, our own masks and our own false selves. To live who we really are, to contribute what we really can to make God’s world a little better each day, this takes dedication, ability to accept disappointment, letting go of the idols in our hearts, no longer hiding our errors/our miss the marks, accepting our place as God’s partner, servant and caretaker of God’s world. Remembering the world was created for our sake and we are not the creators of it, using our creative nature-implanted in us by God-to grow and change our corner of the world for the sake of God, not our egos and not our fortunes.
In recovery, we are well aware of the way idolatry takes root in our hearts and we see the world through false eyes and with suspicion and scarcity. We know the harm on our souls and the harm we then perpetrate onto another(s) because we are devoted worshipers of our idols. We also know the stumbling block of our iniquity before our faces is the way our vision sees only what we want it to see, not what is. AND, in recovery, we are well attuned to the warning signs of this insidious way of being creeping into our daily lives os we constantly and consistently do T’Shuvah, we consistently do our inventory, we are constantly improving the ways we live and the ways we serve God each and every day, one grain of sand at a time. We are able to rejoice in our portion, love our neighbors better and not need to give into our false egos, our false selves and our inauthentic natures.
I know a little about the idols of my heart and the stumbling block of my iniquities before my face. I live with the aftermath of them each and every day. I know that my flirtations with idolatry in recovery (mainly thinking I am right) have been fewer and fewer over the years and I am engaged in rooting them out each and every day. I also know that I have bought the faces of people living their iniquity on their face and not realizing it. Every time I buy into the lies of another(s), I am engaging in idolatry. Our idolatry begins when we buy the lies of another(s). Truth sets me free and I have to see Truth as well as speak truth a little more each day. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark