Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
Day 4
“Standing eye to eye with being as being, we realize that we are able to look at the world with two faculties- with reason and with wonder. Through the first, we try to explain or to adapt the world to our concepts, through the second we seek to adapt our minds to the world.”(Man is Not Alone pg.11).
This is the great conundrum, which faculty to use when engaging the world, reason or wonder. While reason makes more ‘sense’ at a lower logic level, I want to look at how wonder changes everything we know and have learned. Without wonder, in my experience, we can’t “stand eye to eye with being as being” because we are blind to what truly makes us human-our soul and spirit. Being human means we can go above and beyond our animal instincts and help another human being, make the interests of another our concerns to paraphrase another Rabbi Heschel teaching.
When we are in wonder, the ‘person in the glass’ stares back at us with a smile, an encouragement, a bit of wisdom and hope. Living from wonder means we never see the same thing in the same way twice. We are, as Rabbi Heschel described himself, constantly surprised, not always pleasantly, and always surprised. Same s$%#*t different day never comes out of our mouths, we are constantly excited for what the day will bring, what we will learn today, what new experiences of people we will have today, and, most of all, we hear how good and needed we are from the ‘person in the glass’ upon arising! Living from and in wonder means we are constantly in search of new ways of experiencing each day, we are constantly searching for new ways to view the challenges we face and we use the creative energy of the universe, of the people around us and inside of us to solve the problems that used to baffle us. The state of wonder that Rabbi Heschel is teaching us about, I believe, is the state of being connected to, open to, a student of, and thoroughly immersed in the universe as it is, hearing the call of the Ineffable One and responding to this call.
This state of wonder allows us to stop trying to exert the control that we think we have over the world. It reminds us that authoritarianism is not the path to follow, that our challenges make us human, again paraphrasing Rabbi Heschel, the greater our challenges, the deeper our humanity becomes. Living in wonder allows us to view the world as it is, right here, right now. Wonder pushes us to find solutions to challenges that are larger than a quick fix, these solutions are far-reaching and long lasting. Wonder forces us to live in a deep connection to the Ineffable One with all the joy and the angst that connection to God brings to us.
How do we do this? Rabbi Heschel gives us the clue; adapting our mind/being to the universe rather than trying to bend the world to our reasoning, our ‘way it should be’. In the state of wonder, the conflicts we have (and we have them) are conflicts that we engage in for the sake of God, not our egos. We engage in battle to lift up the world and our fellow humans to be closer to God, to the principles that God has given to us and to make sure that no one is left behind because we did not reach out to them. Living in wonder means never taking anything for granted. We are never able to predict the outcome nor be in depression. We will be depressed at the state of affairs of the world and the people running the different countries, states, cities, communities, families and we will not fall into the hole of depression. Living in wonder is the state of being connected to and immersed in our lives, the lives of all humans and the life of the world itself. Living in wonder gives us the ability to not only appreciate art, beauty, etc, it gives us the ability to appreciate the love, the rebuke, the errors, the gains we experience on a daily basis.
In recovery, we are in constant wonder and joy over our recovery, our experiencing ‘life on life’s terms’ and the clarity that wonder, sobriety, our regained morality and living our spiritual principles gives to us. That we are in recovery is a wondrous event and experience. It cannot be explained by reason/lower logic, it can only be understood in the greater context of the Universe and our connection to it, our connection to God, to another human being and our connection back to our soul/spirit/authentic self. In recovery, we are in awe of each day being new, each day having something to teach us and each day we are able to learn anew/renew. Wonder is the foundation of our recovery so we do not get stale.
When I first read this in 1987, I was utterly confused. I kept reading it and I still read it almost daily. I have to be reminded of my commitment and need to live from wonder. Wonder has given me the courage, the push to be creative, to immerse myself in text, in life and see it differently than most. It gives me assurances that God is always with me, the universe is my friend and wonder teaches me how to greet the day and everyone I meet in that day. While I don’t always put into practice these lessons, they give me the strength and the vision forward. Seeing the world through wonder has given me the clarity and wisdom to love and appreciate family, friends, even enemies. Wonder allows me to respond “great’ when people ask me how I am because I realize I am blessed to be alive today. Wonder allows me to look you in the eyes and myself in the mirror. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark