Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 246
“To be overtaken with awe of God is not to entertain a feeling but to share in a spirit that permeates all being…As an act of personal recognition our praise would be fatuous; it is meaningful only as an act of joining in the endless song.” (Who is Man pg.116)
The first sentence above is the problem that is facing all of us today, yesterday and tomorrow. Can we be overtaken with the awe of God as a sharing in the “spirit that permeates all being”? Rabbi Heschel was speaking of this as a crisis/challenge almost 60 years ago in the lectures this book is based on. Today, is seems to me, that the crisis/challenge has grown and the divide between what Rabbi Heschel is describing in the first sentence above and the ‘winning’ of entertaining “a feeling” overtaking the sharing in “a spirit that permeates all being” is apparent in our political, social, religious spheres.
People stand at the Grand Canyon, etc and are overtaken with awe and wonder, of this there is little doubt or argument. However, for most people, these experiences of awe, like the awe of a ‘beautiful’ sunset are feelings that are fleeting and remembered with wistfulness. They do not, however, make a dent in the ways we interact with one another, they do not make an impact in the ways we treat the earth, they do not impact the ways we seek power for its own sake, they do not make an impact on our daily living. They are ‘special occasions’ and then we return to the ‘real world’. In our ‘real world’ we are “dog eat dog”; “anything goes as long as we win”,; obfuscate the truth; tell the Big Lies; winning is everything; take advantage of the poor, the needy, the stranger; prejudice and senseless hatred carry the day so we can stay in power; and so on. This is the problem we are facing today; are we going to truly “be overtaken with the awe of God” or are we going to stop in and recharge our feelings and beliefs that we are doing god’s work, when we are truly worshiping the idols we have set up?
We are witnessing idolatry being ‘sold’ as monotheism by people who want religion and their god to serve them rather than they serve God and follow the principles, tenets, commandments, path their religion is founded on and flourishes on. We see this at all levels of life right now. There are the people who march, demonstrate and even use violence to stop women from choosing what they want to do with their bodies, yet these same people believe in the death penalty. There are people who believe violence is called for when “their side” doesn’t get its way, as in the Jan. 6th Insurrection. There are people who are calling for an end to the freedoms so many Americans have fought and died for since 1776 because they don’t want to extend them to everyone, only to the ELITE WHITE CHRISTIANS that join with them. Yet, all of these people will describe the ‘awe of god’ they are overtaken by that is uniquely personal to them and their compatriots. No one else can share it this awe precisely because it is a personal feeling that only the people who are on the same page as they are can share, understand and feel.
For some of us, when we are “overtaken with the awe of God” we know we are part of something so much greater than ourselves and our allies and enemies. We become aware of our connection to the mountains, the deserts, the seas and the land. We rejoice in sharing with all peoples and know we are all part of the oneness of the world, the Oneness of God, the oneness of living. We are connected to “a spirit that permeates all being” and are refreshed, rejuvenated and revived by this connection. We are overcome with the vision of the world that God has given us, the part we have in making our corner of the world a little better than when we found it, and the strength to carry out our unique mission no matter what obstacles are in front of us. We are overcome with a “fire in our belly” like Jeremiah the prophet to speak truth, to learn truth, to engage with all people in truth. We are overcome with God’s vision of all humans having infinite value, equal value and unique value, a vision that reminds us of our uniqueness so we end our comparing and competing, our need to ‘be right’, our need to ‘crush our enemies’, and our need to ‘win at the cost of our souls/spirits’. We are aware of the difference between awe of God being a feeling and a sharing in “a spirit” when we are unable to describe the experience and we are overtaken with kindness, compassion, love and lack of prejudice for all humanity, for all of God’s creations.
In recovery, we learn to “act as if”, “fake it till you make it” in order to let the spirit of experiences rule us instead of the feelings we are having. We have learned that following our emotional feelings can get us into trouble and send us back to our old ways which harmed us and those around us. In recovery, we are always searching to be authentic, have authentic experiences and authentic relationship with God.
I have said “f*&%ck your feelings” for a long time and add “do the next right thing” after saying that. While I have confused feelings of awe with the sharing in the Spirit that is the life force which sustains all life and creation, more often than not, I have been engaged in the sharing, I have been able to see the person in front of me, I have been able to identify with all people and have let go of stereotypes and judgmental thoughts, feelings and behaviors. To do this means to be free of the inauthentic needs mentioned above and seek and engage with the “spirit that permeates all being”. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark