Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 5 Day 15
“By will alone man becomes the most destructive of all beings. This is our predicament: our power may become our undoing. We stand on a razors edge. It is to easy to hurt, to destroy, to insult, to kill.” (Thunder in the Soul pg. 84)
The Latin root of the word “predicament” is “predicare”, in English, “predicate” and this means “make known beforehand”. I am experiencing this sentence as this is what we know beforehand and have ignored: “our power may become our undoing”! AIN’T THIS THE TRUTH! Isn’t this what we are going through right now? Isn’t this the issue that has faced human beings since the beginning of time, when Cavemen wanted to take from one another so they would just kill their neighbor to get what he had? I would posit this is precisely what the Bible comes to rectify, this is what God ‘saw’ happening with the ‘men of reknown’ taking any virgin they wanted to and treating them like whores, when God ‘saw’ the violence that was abounding on earth, when God ‘saw’ that Adam and Eve were hiding, when God ‘saw’ when Cain denied killing his brother, Abel, etc. The Bible comes to tell us: Yes, you have the power, yes, you have free will to make your own choices AND here is the path that will lead you to joy, to fulfilling your passion and completing your purpose, here are ‘the steps’ to take as we slog on this chaotically, joyous journey called our lives.
Throughout human history, these words have come to both light and fruition, almost. From the Assyrians, to the Egyptians, to the Greeks, to the Romans, to all of the rest of the countries of the world, their “power” did “become our undoing” and, I fear, we are beginning to see the same in the United States today. Rather than heed the prophets, rather than live Jesus’ teachings and ways, today’s ‘good christian nationalists, good christian prosperity gospel people, good ‘torah jews’ are doing the exact opposite and their mendacity, their abilty to deceive so many of we the people is undoing an experiment begun 250 years ago. Whether or not they will succeed is still unknown and the outcome will be decided by either we the people, in our smallness or by We the People by taking our rightful place as divine reminders, fulfilling the divine need we are created to fulfill, and living with the passion and purpose that resides in our souls. This is the challenge we the people, We the People face: are we living the LIE of smallness and powerlessness over self and caring for the stranger, the poor, the needy, the widow and orphan and being the poor small victims and crying about being we the people or are We going to say HELL NO to the ASSHOLES who are using their power to hurt, destroy, insult and kill We the People of this country and, evidently, other countries as well?
This is the choice and We the People are more than capable and have the power, the strength, the awareness, the spiritual maturity to make the choice that hears, understands and does: CHOOSE LIFE! We the People do not engage in hurting, destroying, insulting, killing the souls, the spirits, the bodies of another human being(s), it is only we the people the smallminded asshole we have the ability to fall back to. This is why Spiritual Counseling, a Spiritual discipline, immersing oneself in the REAL teachings of the Bible, the New Testament, the Koran - not the lies we are being and have been fed for so long, is crucial for We the People and is the antidote to “our power may be our undoing”!
My divine image is in complete sympathy with God, I am experiencing the pain and sadness that is described in the Bible when we the people go away and whore ourselves, I am immersed in the cries God makes between the 2nd and 3rd watch at night as described in the Talmud because “My children are in exile”. I know the experience of exile, I know the experieince of being enslaved to my (ir)rational mind, my emotions, and they lead to jails, institutions, and death. I am beyond grateful that I heeded the call from God when I was in the jail cell in Van Nuys, Ca. in December of 1986! I have been dedicating myself to being the Change God wants to see, to being the best Mark Borovitz I can in this moment. I have made the mistakes Rabbi Heschel warns us of and I continue to do my T’Shuvah and improve at least one grain of sand each day. It is a hard way to live and the most joyous life experience-knowing God’s cries, hearing my own, hearing yours, makes me a better person in this moment.
ACTION STEPS:
Examine the ways you have used your power each day-letting go of the lie that you are powerless and a victim. While you may have been victimized, you don’t have to wear the label.
Make a list of the ways you engaged in the misuse of power
Do an inventory on how you found it “so easy to hurt, destroy, insult and kill” today, remembering the ease with which murdering a soul happens.
Write down the changes you are committed to so your power stays in check more and the negativity of it lessens
GOD BLESS and STAY SAFE, Rabbi Mark