Ghosting God, Ghosting Self
Day 52
WOW, what a day it is as the Psalmist says: “This is the day God has made and let us rejoice in it”. I think of this verse each and every morning when I walk outside and marvel at the weather, the wind blowing, the sun shining and know that human beings had, have NOTHING TO DO WITH THESE THINGS, except maybe to fuck them up! I keep shaking my head at how humanity, since our beginning, have been unable to “Rejoice in it” and how sad this is. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel is quoted a lot and his teaching of “radical amazement and wonder” still eludes most of we the people. He would talk about the great miracle of the sun setting and the moon rising each day and people would look at him and not understand his marvel and joy at these ‘everyday occurences’ to most people and the electrifying charge of spiritual energy these daily miracles that abound around us daily mean to people of faith, people who know that “This is the day God has made” and to “rejoice in it” means to appreciate it, care for it, use it to move at least one grain of sand closer to finding and fulfilling the purpose each of us, individually, are created for and joining with family, community to promote the actions that make us worthy to “rejoice in” this day.
This idea was on full display yesterday at the opening of the Obama Presidential Library. The joy on the peoples’ faces who were there was infectious, the power of the musicians who were there infused all of us who heard them with hope and belief, the words of both Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama filled us with direction, being called to action, and with the task of making “this day” a day to “rejoice in” because We the People are not pining for what was, rather we are marching ahead to what can be. This is what President Obama said his Library is about, watching Presidents Clinton, Bush, Biden all sit, know and believe that “this is the day God has made” and their ability to “rejoice in it” together, without worrying about ‘party loyalty’, only caring about the personal bond they all share as former Presidents, only caring about their shared loyalty to the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, only caring about being “trusted servants of God” and of We the People!
Having met President Bush and corresponding with him for a minute, I was and am deeply moved by his faith in God, his belief in recovery and the brightness of his soul, while disagreeing with so many of his policies. After stating this to him in an email, he wrote me a hand-written note and I have it to this day on my desk-another reason to “rejoice in it” because two people who have such different backgrounds found the commonality of spirit to bond together and know that “this is the day God has made” and, together at times and individually we “rejoice in it”. I imagine the same is true for the Clintons and know from their words that this is true with the Bidens and Obamas. All of these men and women aspired while they were in office to “form a more perfect union” and kept fidelitty with the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence to the best of their ability and in their understanding of them.
Each day, We the People have the opportunity to acknowledge “this is the day God has made” and NOT THE DAY THAT TRUMP HAS MADE! Each day, We the People are able to have the experience of “rejoice in it” rather than go along with the MAGA CROWD AND SHIT ON IT and ALL THE PEOPLE THEY DEEM AS “ENEMIES”! While I am loathe to believe that the MAGA crowd is unredeemable, I keep thinking about Pharaoh and how he kept going back on his words, kept breaking the promises he made to God, to Moses, to the people-both the Egyptians and the Jews, ie the stranger- and how at a certain point he just wasn’t able to return, he was too far gone. I see this in Trump and know the responsibility is upon all of us, beginning with his father, then Roy Cohn, then the NY media, then NBC and now with the portion of we the people who actually bought the bullsht that he cared after his 1st term! These people, who claim such devotion to Jesus, are the charlatans, the “money-changers” in the Temple and in such stark contrast to the 4 former Presidents we were able to see yesterday, in such stark contrast to the staff, volunteers, people on display yesterday.
We the People are being called to make a very deliberate and decisive choice “this day”: Do We follow the Psalmist who teaches: “this is the day God has made and let us rejoice in it” or do we follow the MAGA’s who believe that “this is the day” for “christian nationalism” and Trump “to rejoice in”. I choose the former, no matter whom is President because to “rejoice in” God allows me, forces me, guides me to live in wonder and radical amazement!
ACTION STEP:
Make a practice of rejoicing in this day, in this moment
Make a practice of rejoicing in what is, even if it is shitty
Make a practice of recognizing how to make this day better for the sake of Heaven, the sake of another(s)
GOD BLESS, STOP GHOSTING GOD, GHOSTING SELF, Rabbi Mark