Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 293
“Yet what I mean is not outward ceremony and public demonstration, but rather inward appreciation, lending spiritual form to everyday acts. Its essence is to call attention to the sublime or solemn aspects of living, to rise above the confines of consumption.”(Who is Man pg. 117)
We have become consumers of junk science, alternative facts, false moral equivalency, deceptions and ‘celebrity’ status. Polio is showing up in waste water because people don’t want to be vaccinated nor do they want their children vaccinated because they are believing the junk science of the vaccine deniers. We have lost over a million people to Covid-19 because these same deniers convinced millions of Americans to not wear masks, to not be told what to do with their bodies while supporting people who want to decree what a woman can or cannot do with her own body! Because people are so willing to believe the lies of leaders, both religious and secular, they have betrayed their interests, betrayed the health and welfare of their children and families, they have betrayed the call of the universe to participate in the solution instead of becoming the problem. Yet, we are being bombarded by these deniers, these liars who are following the lead of the Tucker Carlson’s, the Sean Hannity’s, the Matt Gaetz’, et al and people are consuming these lies as if they were their mother’s milk. I believe they are caught in the confines of consuming the lies that appeal to their greatest fear, being left out/being out of the group. What Donald Trump was able to masterfully create was a narrative for people who felt left out and feared being displaced by “those people” that he was one of them, that he is their champion not because he is different, rather because he is like them, they are ‘his people’.
This consumption of lies and deceptions is so far reaching that it touches every part of our lives. Even with the documentation done by Eisenhower, even with the oral histories done by survivors of the Shoah, people are denying the Holocaust happened, they are denying the death of 6 million+Jews simply because of Hitler’s desire to scapegoat the Jews, simply because of the racial prejudice against Jews that was started by the Catholic Church a millennia ago. For so long, up until Vatican II and Rabbi Heschel’s efforts to get Jews killed Christ out of the Catechism, and mission to the Jews revoked, Catholics consumed these lies and, like Blacks, Hispanics and Asians as well as Jews today, this consumption confined the Jews to a certain status, engendering hatred and animosity. What makes these lies and deceptions so attractive and palatable to be so consumed?
I believe it is the same thing that Trump tapped into. People are so afraid of change, they need and crave certainty so badly that anyone who promises the status quo and guarantees the certainty people are wanting will be blindly followed. We are witnessing one of the most distressing times in our Nation’s history. I hear Rabbi Heschel calling us to task, calling us to speak out, calling us to reach out to everyone we can and stop the mendacity that will kill freedom, end the deception that is killing democracy, surrender our need to live in the past and welcome the changes that each new day brings. Stop trying to hold on to the heirlooms of the past and immerse ourselves in the beauty and challenge of here and now. We will always be consumers, the question that Rabbi Heschel’s wisdom brings up for us: what are we going to consume? Are we going to be confined by the consumption of lies and deceptions? Are we going to be confined by the consumption of power and prestige? Are we going to be consumers of true celebration, true inner appreciation and welcome “the sublime wonder of living”? Are we going to consume truth and solutions more than lies and problems?
In recovery, we seek to be in the solution and, at times, be the solution. The solution to all of our issues today, according to Dr. Paul, is acceptance. We have to accept what is, we have to be in truth and clarity about what is happening right now in front of us to be able to adapt, change, respond and be in the solution. Without acceptance of truth, of reality, we are not in recovery, we are in our addictive thinking-which is what is happening all over the world. We are in desperate need of recovery, recovery of truth, recovery of dignity, recovery of our ability to truly celebrate and recovery of real freedom.
I see the subtleties of my own consumptive behaviors in my recovery. I believed the lies and deceptions of another(s) without too much questioning because I believed it would serve the mission I was on. I consumed the ‘friendship’ of people who needed me and whom I needed (or thought I did) and I have been thrown out with the trash when I was not useful anymore. I am also sure that there are people who experienced me in the same light. I am sorry for their experience and my part in it. I am sorry that I was so deep in my own narrative that I could not see the deceptions and mendacities of another(s) and, in truth, did not realize my own lies I was telling myself. Writing this today has me realizing the myriad of ways consumption confines me, confines everyone unless we are first serving a higher purpose, unless we are first in inner appreciation of life and our place, unless we are, as Ben Zoma teaches, happy with our portion in life. Without appreciation for what we have we become consumer whores and this exacerbates our angst and does not allow for celebration. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark