Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 99
“Some of us blush, others wear a mask which veils spontaneous sensitivity to the holy ineffable dimension of reality. We all wear so much mental make-up, we have almost forfeited our face. But faith only comes when we stand face to face-the ineffable in us with the ineffable beyond us-suffer ourselves to be seen, to commune, to receive a ray and reflect. But to do that the soul must be alive in the mind.” (Man is Not Alone pg 91).
While “mental make-up” may seem to some people a good thing and it can be at times, it was, in 1951, something that worried Rabbi Heschel greatly and we can see why, given the result of decades of piling this “make-up” on. It has led to more mendacity in our daily living, it has led to more blame and shame, I believe. It has led to more self-deception and deception of another, it has led more of a loss of self-dignity and self-worth as individuals, it has led to an attitude of “let them eat cake” from the .01% who are super-rich and it has led to a loss of faith and, in the face of all the ‘new-age’ spirituality cults, it has led to more isolation, death, addiction, etc.
These pounds and pounds of “mental make-up” we have caked on have caused us to lose sight of our real face, our real make-up as human beings, as direct partners with the Divine, as people capable of rising above their petty jealousies to help care for another human being in distress. The call for power, prestige, control is a false call-it is a call that comes from centuries of wearing “mental make-up” and only adding to it, never wiping it off. We have and are losing sight of the similarity of purpose each and every human being has, make a difference, make our corner of the world a little better than it was, use our unique gift to help another human being live better.
We are able to and need to see ourselves as I describe above in order to remove the “mental make-up” that is so caked on. It has become part of our upbringing, part of our epigenetic inheritance. We may not be able to change our epigenetic genome quickly, we can however change the way we treat ourselves. To do this, we must begin with the premise that we are okay without our make-up on. To be au natural is to be proud, to honor what God created, to rejoice in what we have and who we are. It is to go back and change the Garden of Eden story from one of shame and blame to one of pride and connection. Beginning with our self, re-educating our minds and emotions to the song of our soul, to the beauty and wisdom of our spirits. When our souls become the arbiter of our actions, we learn new ways to handle old situations and we grow into the lives we are supposed to live, not the ones society, our parents and/or our self-centered, egotistical thoughts have set us on. We see the world through new eyes each and every day. We are able to better live in Rabbi Heschel’s “radical amazement” state of being. We are seeing everything fresh and new, not bogged down in yesterday’s morass and the trauma of years ago, rather we are seeking new solutions and to the morass and trauma we experienced and has been transmitted down to us. This is not a denial of negativity, this is a way of being that means yesterday’s negativity cannot stop me today from finding a solution to the challenge of living, finding a response to the demand of life/God today. When we remove the “mental make-up” we are able to see new possibilities, new solutions and new challenges.
Once we take off our “mental make-up” we raise our children differently, we treat employees and employers with kindness and truthfulness, we realize the joy of serving people in need of what we have to offer and we reach out for the help we need because of our lacking expertise in the area we need help. Kindness, truth, loving, compassion, caring, justice, etc no longer are seen as weaknesses, they are strengths and connecters to all of humanity. We are able to see the soul/Divine Image of another clearer and brighter when our “mental make-up” is removed.
In recovery, we are constantly working on not only removing the old “mental make-up” that has almost cost us our face, our lives and the lives of another(s), we are engaging each and every day in wiping clean the new make-up we purposely and inadvertently put on each day with our daily prayers, meditations, gratitude lists, review of our day. We are so aware of the danger of the lies we tell ourselves, the blaming of another(s) for actions we know are not right to take, and trying to defend the indefensible, and where these ways lead us that we constantly speak to our spiritual guides, sponsors, therapists, friends and seek guidance and advice to keep our side of the street clean and be the best self we can be in this moment.
Having removed much of the “mental make-up” I had caked on, I thought I was done with it and, re-reading this passage and immersing myself in Rabbi Heschel’s words as well as the writing I have been doing for this past 12+ months, I realize that I put some of this make-up on me and that blinded me to realities I didn’t want to see, fogged up my eyesight so I couldn’t see who was being a ‘Brutus’ to me and how I was harming other people. It has become painfully clear to me, which I believe I am conveying through this writing and I am more committed than ever to remove the make-up, not worry about where the chips may fall and speak my truth and my vision, allowing for my mind to be changed by a connection from another soul to my soul and my soul to my mind. I am committed to putting my mind in the passenger seat more and my soul/spirit in the driver’s seat. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark