Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 2 - Day 13
“Godliness is an absolute reality which exists through itself. It existed prior to the creation of the world and will survive the world in eternity. Sovereignty can exist only in a relationship. Without subordinates this honor is abstract. God desired kingship and from that will creation emerged. But now the kingly dignity of God depends on us.” (Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity)
For many human beings the idea of Godliness seems too far away and is relegated to the few pious people like saints. Yet here, Rabbi Heschel is reminding us that Godliness is not just for the “pious”, it is within reach of all of us. It is a way of being, a state of being that preceded us and creation and will extend far beyond our mortality and even the ‘end of days’. And, we can say “so what” to this truth, we can do our usual slight of hand, lip service to Godliness, and wrap ourselves in ‘the Holy Book” to prove we are acting Godly while in actuality we are acting selfishly, we are living in mendacity and deception of another(s) and self, and we are saying one thing while believing in heart that we can do as we please, as Moses reminds us not to do in Deuteronomy.
As we are taught by Moses, Godliness is not on some high mountain, it is not across a large ocean, it is not hidden from us. Godliness is in our hearts, in our souls, in our mouths-the only entity stopping us from accessing and living in the Godliness community is us! We are all priests and holy souls, we are all precious gems having infinite dignity and worth, we are all deserving of honor through honoring another(s), we are all children/partners with God, we are all created Tzelem Elokim, in the Image of God, we all have a divine spark that radiates truth, goodness, kindness, justice, love and compassion. All of this is true and yet, we forget these truths, we ignore these truths, we get ‘drunk’ on our own ideas, on our own power, in our own ego, in an insatiable urge/desire to conquer and rule.
The truth that Godliness was here before and will be here after can make us humble enough, curious enough, and teachable enough to seek it. Yet, our hubris prevents us from accepting this truth. The story of the Tower of Babel is still being played out today, we are still trying to make it to the sky/heaven and be God instead of reaching for the stars to be one with God. We are still babbling with one another and more concerned with building our individual brand, proving we are the one, convincing you and me that my ways is the ONE WAY, than we are with being one with one another and with God. We are, as always, at a crossroads where we have to decide as individuals and as communities and as a world whether life is more important than power, whether to “love thy neighbor” is more precious that loving one’s power, whether truth will trump our individual and collective mendacity. People will go to Temple on Tuesday Night and Wednesday and not be moved to this work, not be impacted by the day enough to ask for and grant forgiveness, a sadness and tragedy for God, for Godliness and for us all.
We can recover our Godliness and our humanity! It is not too far away as Moses taught. It is in our spirits, it is in our hearts, and it is in our minds. We have to surrender our reptile brain, we have to allow our reptile brain be confronted and defeated by our higher logic brain, we have to allow our minds to be confronted and defeated by our spirits/souls. We do this by letting go of our need for control, letting go of our need for power, letting go of our need to be right. In 4+ days we will celebrate the Day of At-One-Ment, also known as Yom Kippur. We celebrate a reconnection with Godliness, a re-covenanting with God, community, family and self. We celebrate our imperfections and acknowledge them out loud, and in a melody that points to our foolishness with believing we should be perfect. We get to celebrate this amazing day by doing the work, the joy of these days of T’Shuvah, these days of making amends and accepting the gratitude of another(s), these days of granting forgiveness to those who ask and having compassionate pity for those who can’t. We recover our Godliness through study, prayer and action. We recover our Godliness through surrendering our deceptions and lies replacing them with truth and kindness, justice and mercy, love and wholeness.
In recovery, we are able to recover our authentic selves by admitting and accepting that we are not the end all, be all. We no longer have to prove how smart we are, how rich we are, how capable we are, we just have to live smarter, live in the abundance we have, and live to the best of our ability in all of our affairs. Godliness is a gift that we have to unwrap each and every day and embrace it, use it wisely and enjoy the community and the ‘new/old’ home.
Knowing that I am but a speck in the grand scheme of world history helps me make more of a difference than less. It is this knowledge that motivates me to help another, to forgive those who have “trespassed against me”, as the Bedtime Shema commits us to. Godliness is the way to get unstuck from all that blocks the 3rd Chakra, the ego, the self-aggrandizement, the need to be right, the inability to be in truth and make amends, admit our errors. It has worked for me and it can work for all. I humbly ask for your forgiveness for anything I have done to harm you that I am unaware of. I have compassionate pity for those who are unable/unwilling to make amends to me for their actions. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark