Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
Day 11
“It is a misconception to assume that there is nothing in our consciousness that was not previously in perception or analytical reason. Much of the wisdom inherent is our consciousness is the root, rather than the fruit, of reason. There are more songs in our souls than the tongue is able to utter. (Man is Not Alone pg.16-17)
Rabbi Heschel is in direct conflict with the people who believe we are born tabla rasa. He calls tabla rasa “a misconception”. Misconception is defined as ‘flawed or faulty thinking’. In our desire to be deceived, we have bought into the flawed thinking that we are born a blank slate and everything that we become is because of education, environment, etc. Rabbi Heschel is challenging this misconception and is saying in the first sentence above not everything that is in our consciousness comes from our analytical reasoning or perceptions previously held.
In the second sentence, Rabbi Heschel is turning modernity on its head. He is reminding us that our reason is in service of something greater rather than making reason something greater than anything else. We are a society that worships reason, that follows reason off a cliff, who has used reason to validate racism, anti-semitism, religious hatred, prejudices of all kinds, anti-LGBTQ, wars that kill millions of innocent people, etc. Worshiping reason leads to the rejection of so many truths that cannot be proven with empirical evidence and are true nonetheless. Worshiping reason allows one to buy the lies and deceptions of another who makes a “reasonable” case and pokes “reasonable doubt” in the vision, witnessing, truth of another, even science as we have learned from recent experience. We are being called back from the brink by Rabbi Heschel, the brink of self-destruction that comes from the self-deception of worshiping reason. He is reminding us, calling to us, giving us a bad conscious, so we will appreciate our consciousness and honor what we know in our consciousness without getting bogged down in proving it to ourselves first.
This is a major problem for many people. We give so much power to reason, we are unable to know what we know and follow our inner knowledge. We will buy into our negative self-talk, we will buy into the negative talk someone else says about us, yet we have great difficulty buying into and acting on what we know in our consciousness, our soul. Confusing the fruit with root will always lead us astray, will always enhance our self-deception and our ability to be deceived by another. In the last sentence, I am hearing echos of: don’t be fooled into taking things for granted, don’t be fooled by yesterdays news, actions, learning. Rabbi Heschel is imploring us to see ourselves fresh, to not be frustrated by our inability to articulate all the “songs in our souls” all at once. We have to sing them when they have the most meaning for us and at the time that is most appropriate for the world. We also have to understand that we do have more than one song to sing in our lifetime and when change comes, to welcome it, no matter how it arrives, as an opportunity to sing another song that is deep in our soul.
These sentences bring us to a realization that our obsession with “empirical proof” is really a ruse by people in power to stop another from singing the songs in their soul. Billie Holiday was a junkie, a heroin addict, yet she was silenced because her song, “strange fruit” was a rallying point for black and white people together to do something about the racism in the south (and north). She was hunted and harassed by the Federal Gov’t. Rev. King, the Berrigan Brothers, people who start programs to help another human through actual human connection, all become subject to the Gov’t.’s scrutiny, the scrutiny of a board, the scrutiny of the “suits” in order to stop them from gaining a platform to sing the songs of their soul from. Why? Because it would bring the ‘masses’ to a place of putting more stock in the knowing in their souls, rebelling against the mendacity of the people in charge and create a cacophony of voices, each different, each respected and each heard to build the symphony called Living Well.
In recovery, we are able to tap into this inner wisdom that we had drowned out with substances, behaviors, anxiety, etc. In recovery, we walk away from reason when we admit we are powerless in order to gain control, when we realize there is something greater than our intellect at work in the world and we can use this power in our own lives. In recovery, we grow our awareness of the song that we need to sing in this moment, in this place.
I have always had an inner knowing, I have always been able to hear it, yet until I was sitting in a jail cell almost 35 years ago, I could never take action on what I was hearing and I could never sing the song that I needed to in the moment and place I was in. I have, with the help of God, family, friends and, even, enemies, been singing the different songs in my soul at different times, mostly appropriate songs and appropriate times, except for when they aren’t! Those times create big explosions that cause collateral damage and I am sorry to Harriet, Heather, and anyone else affected by them. I also know when people are being deceptive with me and, now, I don’t need to call them out on it, I just know who they are and deal with them detached from my need to believe them and/or show them the truth. Reading this reminds me that I have more songs to sing as do you. Are you singing the song you need to right now? God Bless and Stay Safe, Rabbi Mark