Ghosting God, Ghosting Self
Day 8
The phrase from the Bible, “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before God”, is not directed only to the Pharaoh in Egypt oh so long ago, it is the constant question that We the People are asked and it seems like it will take a little longer! Humility in the Bible is a good thing, it is not mealy-mouthed, it is not weak, it comes from the strength of knowing our place, knowing who we are and living into the gifts, the joys, the community that is blessed to have us and we are blessed to be a part of. Just as Abraham is told to be a blessing, so too are we the descendants of Abraham and Sarah!
It is impossible to “be a blessing” when we “refuse to humble” ourselves. Our constant ghosting of God, our constant refusal to live authentically, is the source of our discomfort, the source of our emotional illness’, the source of our addictive behaviors! Addicted to power, to money, to lying, to cruelty, to enslaving another(s), to feeding one’s inner Pharaoh, is as powerful, if not more, that any substance addiction. Yet, even in “polite” society, these ways of being are lauded and celebrated, the “elites” are not the academics, they are the Marco Rubios, the Trumps, the Vances, the Voughts, all people who wield their power like a CLUB, who smash the ‘little guy’, just because they can, who lie to the survivors of those killed on 9/11 like Lutnick has done, who hate the stranger like Miller does, who forget the reason their ancestors came to America-the land of the FREE, like Bessent, who forget the words of the Bible, of Jesus, like all of the current assholes in power both in the White House and the Congress.
One of the most important lessons of Abraham’s being is: community is important! Sarah and Abraham “raised up many souls”, not had children, rather they helped the people around them live up to the unique image of God each one possessed. This, I believe, is what “raised up many souls” means. I am thinking of my father’s parents in this moment as they had no biological children, adopting my father and then my grandmother had two sisters die in childbirth and she took in their 5 children in the 1920’s and treated them all like her own and my grandfather loved each of them fiercely as well. My grandparents knew what “be a blessing” meant although they were not ‘religious’ by today’s standards, they knew what it meant to “humble yourself before God” as they did everyday-seeking to do the next right thing and, in my grandfather’s case: never saying a bad word about another human being. When he did not understand the actions of another person, he just said: I am not walking in his/her shoes. Have pity not disdain was his way of being. They are not famous, they are not well-known, they are the epitome, for me, of what it means “to be a blessing”. Their ‘children’ went on to emulate their behaviors more and less-depending on the person and the moment. The pressures of first generation Americans got to them and the pressures of ‘making a living’, the “societal norms”, the anti-semitism, all weighed upon them and, knowing the right way to be from the examples of grandparents, their errors were compounded by knowing right and doing wrong-at times. The pressures of being a decent human being in today’s America and Israel are ENORMOUS! When Elon Musk, Sergey Brin, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, all bow down and kiss the ring of Donald Trump, when Ellison father and son leverage their ‘relationship’ with Trump to take over the media-making it a “state-run” media, the protests of We the People might seem too little, too late and God’s call to Abraham “to be a blessing” tells us DON’T BELIEVE THE LIE OF THE POWERFUL!
Twice a day Jews recall the exodus from Egypt in our prayers-twice a day we are reminded that the Pharaoh can be defeated, that slavery will end and we can be redeemed from the inner slavery we re-experience over and over again. It AIN’T EASY and it is doable. We begin by letting go of the societal norms we buy into that keeps us Ghosting the Self, that keeps us Ghosting God, and begin to “humble ourselves before God”. The first step in this process is to see “the blessing” we are and “the blessing” we are to gift to the world. Upon seeing this truth, this path, we find the pathway to fulfill our unique mission, continuing to “humble ourselves” by living in truth, in authenticity, in community, in connection to something greater ourselves.
ACTION STEPS:
Make a list of the ways you “refuse to humble yourself before God” and how they ‘serve’ you
Make a list of the ways you “humble yourself before God and how they serve you
Ask yourself each morning: What is the blessing I can be/bring to my community, my family, to God TODAY?
Each evening, go over your day seeing where you fell into old traps of hubris, made new pathways in humility, and raised your Self and another up by being the blessing you are!
God Bless and Stop Ghosting God and Self, Rabbi Mark