Daily Prophets
Day 206
“They are eager to do evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul. Yet, I will look to God I will wait for God’s saving, God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, enemy. When I fall, I will rise, when I sit in darkness, God will be a light to/for me. I must bear the indignation of God as I sinned against God until God pleads my case and does justice for me.”(Micah 7:3,7,8).
I understand Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s preoccupation with the prophets and his subsequent activism because of them. How anyone can read these words and not immerse themselves in both the words, times, sorrow of the prophets and the words, times and sorrows of today is beyond me!
The first verse above describes the human situation for millennia. Humans are eager to do evil and to do evil well. We see this throughout history and we see it today. Whereas the spiritual foundations of all Western Religions preach and teach love thy neighbor, how to get along with each other, help the needy, the poor and the stranger, seek peace and be holy; some of the leading practitioners do the evil of separation, hatred of anyone not like them, the eye disease/cancer of prejudice, bribery in many different forms, cheating the poor, vilifying the stranger, hating the needy, etc. I have to admit these practitioners of evil have done it well in the past and are doing an excellent job of doing evil right now. Look at how medical health, mental health and spiritual health have become politicized to the point of infants and small children getting sick and dying because people will not get vaccinated. Yet the leaders, DJT et al, telling them not to get vaccinated, “it’s a hoax”, got the vaccine and the best medical care!
While it is easy to point the finger at the leaders, we also have to look at ourselves and at the people we surround ourselves with. We bear the guilt of doing evil, as the last verse speaks about, whenever we pay the bribe, whenever we go along with evil in order to curry favor and/or get along. When we excuse our evil behavior with “on the advice of counsel” which has become the key phrase when people are found to be doing evil. We see this in all of our institutions of higher learning, business, and in our institutions of higher spiritual living. We have to look at how we put up with the bribes, as well as ask for them by giving/withholding favors, kindness, promotions, demotions, etc. We have been subjected to the utterances of the evil of our politicians, our clergy, our bosses and ourselves, yet we have not done much to change the way we “do life”. Micah spoke about this 2700+ years ago and look where we are today!
We can only be responsible, as I am reading the prophet today, when we acknowledge our need for and dependence on God. Rather than go along with the bribers, the evil doers, the evil that lies within us, Micah is teaching us to look to God for help. When we look to God, to our inner core/soul, we are able to resist the temptations to run after evil which Moses warns us against doing. Looking to God reminds us of whom we serve and to whom we are responsible. Looking to God causes us to question if we are living in our Divine Image or the caricature of ourselves we and another(s) have created. Waiting for God to save us is the only way to not fall into the prison and narrow place of being under the control of another human being. Knowing God hears us, knowing God wants us to return, knowing God cries when we are in exile can give us the strength to resist the temptation of evil, the temptation that Cain could not resist, we are able to when we return to God and await our redemption.
Rabbi Heschel teaches us regarding the “do not rejoice” verse: “Among the great insights Micah has bequeathed us is how to accept and to bear the anger of God. The strength of acceptance comes for the awareness we have sinned against Him and…anger does not mean God’s abandonment of man forever. His anger passes, His faithfulness goes on forever.”(The Prophets pg.101). We humans need to act more Godly when we are angry and hurt, we have to leave the door open for reconciliation and forgiveness. We humans need to act more Godly when we have harmed another, we have to bear with grace, dignity and remorse our errors and know that forgiveness and faithfulness last much longer than anger in God’s world. We humans need to be more Godly and live more in God’s world than our own. We have to make this world more Godly than when we were born. We do this, as Rabbi Harold Shulweis, z”l, teaches by being more Godly.
In recovery we ran to do evil and did it well. We are dedicated to waiting for God and living Godly more each day. In recovery, we learn to be patient and wait for God’s call, reject the bribes and evil desires of another(s) and of ourselves. We know God is our hope, our guide and our desire.
I have run to do evil and did it pretty well. In my recovery, I haven’t run to do evil nor have I done it that well! I certainly have paid the price for going along to get along, for silencing my truth, for not seeing what was going on, etc. I also know that God is the only salvation I have. I am constantly hearing God by listening to my wife, daughter, family and spiritual friends. I know that darkness ends and the light afterward is so bright. This is the promise and God delivers on God’s promise all the time. God Bless and Stay Safe, Rabbi Mark