Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 248
“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)
Continuing on Friday’s writing, I have found myself asking what is going through me? Is it pride and ego that has the larger hold on me or does sharing in “a spirit that permeates all being” have the larger hold on me? While it is never always and/or never, which one of these energies has 51+% control of us is entirely dependent on us. We get to choose what is going to go through us and what we are going to make the foundation of our life. Rabbi Heschel is reminding us, teaching us, calling to us to hear the demand of God, “to be overtaken with awe of God” as a way of being not as a feeling that we like. Rather, I hear Rabbi Heschel demanding that we acknowledge the awesomeness of God, that we stop believing it is just a personal experience known only to us and we then can tell other people how to acknowledge. Immersing myself in these words, I am hearing Rabbi Heschel explain to us, more patiently than I would, the “awe of God” is not a real experience unless we are also engaged in sharing “in a spirit that permeates all being”, it is not a real experience unless we respect and engage with every other being as if they too have been “overtaken with awe of God” and are sharing in the same spiritual experience while having their own unique one.
At the Red Sea and at Mt. Sinai, everyone saw the power and glory of God, everyone heard the call of God and each person had their own experience unlike the experience of everyone else. Yet, they could all share in being “overtaken with awe of God” in their unique way and as a communal commitment. The response at the Red Sea was “this is my God and I will honor God” and the response of Mt. Sinai was “we will do and we will understand”. At the Red Sea, it was a more personal response, the people matured enough by Mt. Sinai to be able to have a communal response to their very unique individual experience because they were able to “share in a spirit that permeates all being”.
As we approach the 4th of July, I believe it is high time for “all good people to come to the aid of their country” as the typing test/challenge says. We all share in the spirit of the founding fathers whose desire to be free is captured so beautifully in the words of Emma Lazarus on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”. For the ‘conservative’ impostors like Clarence Thomas, his wife Ginny, lying Ted Cruz, little Marco Rubio, Moscow Mitch and Trump-kissing Kevin McCarthy, these words have no meaning and the spirit of the Declaration of Independence is not a “spirit that permeates all being”, it is just a feeling for a day, a way to slap hands and give out phony smiles.
This July 4th we are being called by Rabbi Heschel’s wisdom and teaching, by all spiritual disciplines to rededicate ourselves to the values and the meaning, the spirit and the actions that our founding document is calling for us to do. We have to end our need to live in our pride and false egos, we have to let go of our desire to be right and make another(s) wrong, we have to stop feeding the deceptions of ourselves that lead us to deceive another(s) and to believe in the lies of the people in power. We are being called upon to answer the call and the needs of these tired, poor, huddled masses” in this country as well as those who are knocking on our door for a better life. We are being called to “share in the spirit that permeates all being” and help the poor, the needy, the stranger rather than exploit them, rather than jail them, rather than reject them. We can only respond to the demand and call of God when we are “overtaken with the awe of God” and follow the words of Moses in the Torah and the prophets: “Love mercy, do justly, and walk humbly in the ways of God.” God is always ready for our return, God desires our return as our prayers tell us 3 times each day. God needs our return so we can be the partners with God that we were created to be. God needs our return so we stop hiding, we need our return so we can take our proper place and help those who need help. This is what 51+% “share in a spirit that permeates all being” looks like and acts like.
In recovery, we are so aware of our need to let go of our false pride and false ego in order to have the ability to “share in a spirit that permeates all being” . We are aware of our need to shift the balance of power within us to 51%+ decency, kindness, truth, love, justice and mercy. We learn to live in a state where we are “overtaken with awe of God” in our daily affairs, we develop a practice of experiencing the call of the Ineffable One in all of our affairs and no two experiences are ever the same.
I know that this ‘battle’ as to what is going to have power over me is never done! I forgot this for a bit, I realize that false ego and pride has ruled me on more than one occasion in my recovery and I also know that I have continued to return to a state where I can be and am “overtaken with the awe of God” and I continue to “share in a spirit that permeates all being”. I am grateful for the people who help me return and who stand with me and by me because they know my soul, know my heart. I am grateful that God accepts my T’Shuvah and helps me return to my proper place. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark