Ghosting God, Ghosting Self
Day 80
On August 24th Harriet and I will be doing a workshop for Desert Outreach Synagogue on “preparing for the High Holy Days”, which will include thoughts and actions surrounding T’Shuvah, Celebration, Prayer, and Gratitude. Many of the thoughts I am expressing now relate to these ideas, there is no “political commentary” to be found in the workshop nor, as I see it, in these blogs. The Ghosting of God, the Ghosting of Self, is a spiritual malady, it is a moral failure, a response to what is happening in the world and in our own lives that is antithetical to what the Bible teaches us about living a kosher, aka, fitting and proper life. The commandments are not political, they are about spiritual health, being spiritually, ethically, and morally fit.
To paraphrase what the Ramban is saying in his commentary on “You shall be Holy” in the beginning of Leviticus 19: It is possible to be a scoundrel within the bounds of the Law-DON’T DO THIS! Yet, we see this happening all the time. When people are elected to serve in the government, they are “but trusted servants” as we say in AA. However, throughout history, these “trusted servants” have raped and pillaged the very people they are supposed to represent. The ways of “taxation without representation” are being subtly engaged in is HORRENDOUS! Yet, people, especially MAGA people, will call out anyone who stands up for We the People ‘socialists, communists, anti-america’ etc. These same people will use the Bible to pass laws, take actions that are antithetical to the love, kindness, justice, mercy, truth the Bible calls for and say “this is what Christ said to do”!!?? While there are many who are calling out these lies, many Clergy, both Jewish and Christian, promote the lies of these ‘religious’ people who’s only religion is to promote the dogma of hate, the dogma of power, the dogma of Pharaoh! If this isn’t Ghosting God, what is? If this isn’t Ghosting our authentic Self, our living in a way that is compatible with being a partner of God, what is?
Tonight begins the Fast day of Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av which is, according to our lore, the day on which we commemorate the destructions of both Temples in Jerusalem and other tragedies which have befallen the Jewish People. People will sit on the floor or on stools as a sign of their being mourners, they will not put on T’fillin in the morning, they will not eat all day, they will wail for the rebuilding of a 3rd Temple, and they will NOT pay any attention to their own actions that are mirrors of the actions of the both Ancient Israel and Judea. They will not heed the calls of the prophets to RETURN to being partners with God, they will not heed the demands of the prophets to listen, to put on sackcloth and sit in ashes for actual change, not for show as is the custom now and has been for a while.
Tisha B’Av is a day of reflection on the destructions We the People are causing right now, right here, not just wailing for the crimes of the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Romans. It is a day for We the Jewish People to recognize, repent for, and make plans to change the idiotic, repetitive ways of living that: go against the Commandments; that stop the spread the Spiritual Malady infecting the world and so many people; that will turn us into spiritual healers instead of spiritual rapists; that will help us return again to being “trusted servants” who serve God and We the People who have entrusted us to do the next right thing. Is this Political, I think not, it is about decency, about love, about truth, about kindness, about justice, about mercy, about compassion, about grace-all spiritual principles.
It is time for We the People to end our need to be in “senseless hatred” of one another and begin to be deliberate in our hating of prejudice, our hating of power-mongering, our hating of the evil ways some of we the people use lies to promote themselves and more lies, our hating of those of we the people who use deceptions to gain more and more wealth, our hating of using the vulnerabilities of another(s) against them, our hating of the ways strangers are being treated as criminals and enemies, the ways the poor and the needy are being thrown bread crumbs sometimes, the ways of bastardizing the Bible, Jesus’s words and the actions of decency and holiness that God is demanding. This is the PATH OF RECOVERY that is being provided for We the People through reclaiming our authentic self, by reclaiming our real connection to God, through living into the Commandments, by hearing and following the Prophets calls to us, by following the example of the people of Nineveh instead of the people of Ancient Israel! This is the path I follow to grow in my recovery and I pray you choose to join the millions of people who live a life of recovery and return.
ACTION STEP:
Make a plan of recovery based on spiritual principles
Read the Prophets and “return again to the land of your soul
God Bless, Stop Ghosting God, Ghosting Self, Rabbi Mark