Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 260
“To be human involves the ability to appreciate as well as the ability to give expression to appreciation. For thousands of years authentic existence included both manipulation and appreciation, utilization and celebration, both work and worship. In primitive society they were interdependent; in biblical religion they were interrelated. Today we face a different situation.” (Who is Man pg. 116)
Rabbi Heschel’s teachings have to be encountered, not just read and analyzed. Just as with freedom, each day, his wisdom has to be encountered new and fresh each time we read, study and live it. This is the mistake most people make when studying Rabbi Heschel’s brilliance. Many people think they already know what he means and, like Torah, there are many ways to understand Rabbi Heschel and this is the reason I continue to encounter new thoughts, new applications of his path to wholeness for us.
Encountering the second sentence above causes one to reflect on how “utilization and celebration” are part of our “authentic existence”. Using ‘a genuine taking a stand for/come into being’ as a definition for “authentic existence”; and defining utilization as “make practical use of” for utilization and celebrate as ‘honored and frequented’; Rabbi Heschel’s teachings cause us to encounter the way we are living and the ways of the world as a new experience each and every day. The practical use of our living is to cause our self to ‘come into being’ as a unique individual who has something to give to the world, a gift that is needed, a way of being that is necessary, and a skill that no one else can bring in the manner we one can. This is not to be used for egotistical satisfaction nor for power, prestige and/or control. Rather, encountering these words today, we realize the call of the Ineffable One, the call of our surroundings, the call of people whom we know and those we don’t to contribute our talent/skill/uniqueness to the betterment of our corner of the world, regardless of any financial gain, any notoriety, any scorn. When we make ‘practical use’ of our abilities and skills, our gifts and talents, we grow more and more into the human our souls are begging us to ‘come into being’. When we make practical use of who we are we respond to the demand of our higher consciousness to ‘take a stand for’ what is right, what is true, what is holy.
Living a life of utilization in this manner is not the usual way most people think of when hearing this word. Most people think this means making use of something for our gain, making use of something in a concrete manner for personal satisfaction and fulfillment. Yet, doing this has not helped people achieve a sense of beingness that brings fulfillment and/or satisfaction. It usually brings a need for more and more to fill the whole in the soul that can only be filled by living an “authentic existence”. Since so many people are engaged in living their ‘false self’; it is no wonder that we are experiencing so many mental health issues, so much hatred and strife, so much mendacity and deception, so much jockeying for power and riches. When we do not tie “utilization” to “authentic existence” all we are left with is emptiness, low-grade misery, anger, and a loss of faith because what we have faith in, our ‘false self’ will always disappoint us, will always cause more strife, sadness and emptiness.
We have the opportunity each and every day to encounter the world and our “authentic existence”. We have the skill within us to make good practical use of our talents and skills, our kindness and compassion, our mercy and justice, our truth and love. It takes courage according to what Reinhold Niebuhr teaches in the original Serenity Prayer, “the courage to change the things I should”. We cannot change nature, we cannot change another person, we can change the ways we utilize our minds and hearts, souls and intuition for the betterment of all, not just for our selfish needs. We have the ways to do this, prayer, meditation, standing for what is right, good, true, seeing each and every person as having equal worth and dignity, greeting their authentic self, their ‘genuine coming into being’ as a much needed gift that we can utilize together to make peace, wholeness, community and love.
In recovery, we keep “peeling the onion skins” of our false living to find our “authentic existence”. We are on a search for the real ‘me’ and keep discarding the false ‘me’ we have been living and that has brought so much pain and suffering to us and to those around us. We welcome and love the ‘genuine being’ of a newcomer before they can even recognize who they truly are. In recovery, we make practical use of ability to deceive by recognizing our self-deceptions and letting them go so we can be of service to another human being and to God.
I have utilized my talents and skills for the sake of self and for the sake of heaven throughout my life. Prior to recovery, the scales were weighted down on the side of self and deception was my go to way of being. In recovery, the scales have been weighted towards utilizing my gifts for the sake of heaven and for the sake of the people I encounter. As with everything else, it is never 100% either way, yet I know I am more weighted towards justice and mercy, compassion and kindness, truth and love then I am towards self. I keep checking myself to ensure that both my actions and intentions are on the scale leaning towards God. Encountering each day with the knowledge that I have the opportunity and demand to grow my “authentic existence” through “utilization of my gifts brings me hope and excitement. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark