Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 180
“In the light of the Bible, the good is more than a value; it is a divine concern, a way of God. This is the profound implication of the oneness of God: all deeds are relevant to Him. He is present in all our deeds.” (God in Search of Man pg. 375)
Living into the enormity of these teachings and words above is the goal of humanity, as I am understanding and hearing Rabbi Heschel this morning. His voice is in my head each and every day; morning, noon and night and it is a disturbing voice, a voice that is both a cheerleader and a critic, a loving, caring, demanding, unwavering, voice that continues to implore me to do one grain of sand better and to stop giving into the negativity that seeks to overwhelm me. Rabbi Heschel’s voice awakens the prophetic voice inside of me and, hopefully, you as well so We the People will accept once and for all time that “the good is more than a value” and we will “teach it to our children, speak of this when we walk on the way, when we lie down, when we rise up…” as the V’Ahavta prayer demands of us. This is an example of the “deed” of prayer, to take action on the words we say rather than just mumble them, sing them with no understanding or kavanah of what the prayer is asking of us, what the implications of ignoring the prayer are, and to pay attention to the experience of prayer “making us worthy to be saved” as Rabbi Heschel teaches.
“The good is more than a value; it is a divine concern” is an outrageous statement, it is a ridiculous statement to many; in Greek and Roman mythology, the gods have no concern other than fucking with human beings and their own selfish narcissistic desires. In other pagan religions the idols are made of clay and call for human sacrifices, fucking in the fields with the holy prostitutes so there is a good crop, etc. Only in the Bible do we learn that “good” is “a divine concern”, only in the Bible do we hear the demand to “Choose Life”, which is to choose good. We are being reminded that God has a stake in what we do, God has an interest in human beings that goes way beyond any ‘need’ of God, it is the concern of a parent that their child finds their way in the world, that they find their “Soul’s Code” as James Hillman writes about in his book of the same name. The outrageousness is that most people think that God is ‘some guy in the sky with a long white beard’ or Jesus on the Cross, or, or, or because they cannot wrap their heads around the idea that God is an abstract entity, that God is indefinable, indescribable, is the ineffable One. I believe we have raised idiots when it comes to spiritual maturity and growth, spiritual knowledge and insight because the Religious leadership hasn’t given We the People the benefit of their doubt that we are sophisticated enough to experience God as an abstract entity and still be faithful. How sad and ridiculous as well as elitist!
If only the Religious Leadership would study Rabbi Heschel, would immerse themselves in the Bible, would take seriously that “the good is more than a value; it is a divine concern”, then instead of spiritual midgets, We the People, all the people regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, would be spiritually educated, would be connected to the Source of all and truly be able to fulfill the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself” and the “stranger” in our midst would be welcomed and embraced instead of feared and incarcerated. Were “the good is more than a value” be fully embraced by the Religious Leadership, we would not have the strife, the wars, the senseless hatred that is happening right here, right now. While many of We the People are well aware of the truth that “the good…is a divine concern” it is way past time for We the People to demand from our Religious Leaders and from our elected officials that they accept, live into and learn how to practice this eternal truth. It is way past time for We the People to throw these Charlatans, these PAGANS, these deceivers, these grifters the hell out of office, keep them away from power and throw out all of their co-conspirators, these ‘good christian folk’ who have cut the aid package that has saved millions of people from dying from AIDS (Pepfar) and many other important needs of We the People! When the elected officials and their appointees don’t care about We the People as this administration constantly shows and the Congress is too cowardly to do the next right thing, when they live and act as if “the good” is just another value which can be spun, when they fail to live, act and surrender to “a divine concern” and yet continue to talk about how much the Bible rules their daily living, it is way past time for We the People to stage another “Boston Tea Party” and dump these lying assholes, these grifting punks, these mendacious PAGANS out on their asses!
I cannot keep quiet nor can I speak in politically correct ways. I don’t care that the progressives think me a boor, that the conservatives think me a radical, because “a divine concern” is more important for me to follow than being liked, being fit for ‘proper society’. I can’t go along to get along, I realize that I am not able to compromise on principles, on values as I did before my spiritual awakening. I have, of course, compromised at times and it has been acid in my stomach, angina in my spiritual arteries and veins, and a tremendous war within and I lashed out at another(s), usually those I love most, when I couldn’t deal with the compromises I was making. I am not built to compromise, to shade, to wait when I perceive, see, experience, know in my bones that “a divine concern” is being violated, ignored, bastardized. I did these very same actions in my life prior to recovery, prior to my spiritual awakening, I witnessed ‘the good people’ violating, ignoring, bastardizing “a divine concern” and be leaders at the Temple, in business, in government and it was too much for me then and I succumbed to their way and since 1987 I refuse to do this again. “The good is more that a value; it is a divine concern” so it has to be mine and I continue to wrestle with me and you to make this happen. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark