The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 94

“Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are the workers of treachery at ease? You are present in their mouths, but far from their thoughts.. Then…I will take them back into favor and restore them each to his own inheritance and his own lands.”(Jeremiah 12:1,2,15)

The opening verses are the verses that keep many people of faith up in the night. They also are the questions God-deniers use to keep denying the existence of God. Jeremiah is calling God out and seems deeply distressed by this seemingly unjust pattern. 

I think Jeremiah is asking the wrong question, however. I believe the question is: “How do I convince people to stop going the ways of evil and treachery?” “How can I save all of us from buying into their deceptive ways?” Prosper and ease is a natural state for wicked and treacherous people, it has been forever. Because when we are in these states, we do know what God wants us to say and we say the right words with completely different meanings than what most people have and God’s intent. 

Jeremiah’s job, and ours, is to live in ways that attract people to live according to God’s principles and in concert with God’s Will. After all, not doing this is what led to the destruction of Judah, twice. This is not to say the hatred of the Jewish people is caused by God, rather, I am saying that our destruction comes from the inside and when we are weak in our spirit and wicked in our ways, we are more susceptible to being defeated by another nation. 

Nations, organizations, individuals all die, are overtaken by another when they abandon the principles that they were formed under and for. Judah was created as a country/people that were God’s people and would serve God through living God’s principles. When they gave in to the comparison, the grab for power and prestige, forgetting the Covenant made at Sinai, they began to rot from the inside out. The kings, the priests, etc became commodities to be bought and sold. They deceive others and themselves with guile and ease. This is what makes them/us easy prey. 

Yet, after we experience the consequences of our actions, after we cut out the rot and the deception from within us, God will take us back. God always takes us back whenever we return and ‘knock on God’s Door’. Our inheritance, our place in the world is waiting for us. When we are in exile, when we are decayed, our place stands empty, lying fallow and growing weeds. Upon our return, we get to clean the physical space so things can grow on it as a metaphor for the spiritual growth we are engaged in. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches:”There are few thoughts as deeply ingrained in the mind of Biblical man as the thought of God’s justice and righteousness. It is not an inference, but an a priori of biblical faith, self-evident; not an added attribute…It is inherent in His essence… That “God is a righteous judge” is the incontestable premise of Jeremiah’s question,…What the prophets proclaim is God’s intimate relatedness to man…Man stands under God’s concern.(The Prophets pg 199,200, 219). 

Rabbi Heschel is reminding us of God’s essence in regard to the opening verse. What we understand and question of God reveals the end of our ability to apply reason to God’s experience. We continually attempt to seek reason and rationality for events, yet to understand God’s ways, we have to leave the realm of reason and rationality and enter in the state of wonder, radical amazement, mystery. God’s intimate relationship with us cannot be understood until it is experienced, hence “we will do, then we will understand” our reply to God at Mount Sinai. We don’t understand God’s ways, yet, Rabbi Heschel is saying we are a deep concern for God. God is seeking us out to engage in the intimacy that God and we need. What a terrifyingly wondrous and awe inspiring thought and experience. 

In recovery, we were the wicked who prospered at times, prior to our recovery. Yet, we met our fate, we realized we had lost the most important thing in the world, ourselves, our soul. So, we made a decision to return to God and authenticity. We realized the money, the power, the prestige, we got from our treachery and wicked ways cost us our inner life, our ability to engage and sustain our intimate relationships. We used God’s words and thoughts to convince another(s) and ourselves of the ‘righteousness’ of our ways, all the time knowing we were bastardizing these concepts. In recovery, we stay true to God’s words, thoughts and desires. We keep striving to be more congruent and, when our thoughts are not aligned, we act in God’s Will so we can change our thinking. 

I know the treachery of using God’s words to convince when they are empty words and when I believe and live them(to the best of my ability). The latter is a much better way to live comfortably in my own skin and propels me in my recovery. While I always knew God’s ways, only in the last 32+ years of truly being immersed in them have I found the richness, fullness and beauty of life. God has truly welcomed me back, even when people haven’t, and placed me in my proper place. It is this knowledge that powers me in my next chapter, whatever it is. Treachery or Intimacy with God-which are you choosing today? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 93

“And God said to me: Proclaim all these things through… the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the terms of this covenant and do them…but they would not listen or give ear; they all followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. I did not realize that it was against me they fashioned their plots: let us destroy the tree with its fruit…O Lord of Hosts, who judges righteously… let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You I have committed my case.”(Jeremiah 11:6,8,19,20). 

Jeremiah is finding out the hardships of being a prophet. He is experiencing an amazing connection to and with God and an alienation from the people, his fellow citizens, who don’t want to change their ways nor be responsible for their actions. In the first verse above, God is telling Jeremiah to “shout from the rooftops” the errors of Judah’s ways. He is also telling them and us that they don’t want to listen, understand nor hear the words of the covenant. And, on top of that, they follow the stubborn negativity of their heart. 

I understand these first two verses above to be telling us so much about life, about humans, about God and about how to have a real, connected relationship with God and another(s) human being. We have a covenant with God that was made by our ancestors and we GET to be the inheritors of this covenant. The issue for many of us is that we feel constrained within the covenant and God, through Jeremiah, is telling us that the covenant is the path to freedom. This is what happens when our hearts and minds take over our lives. We begin to see black as white, bitter as sweet, friends as foes, idols as God. Jeremiah is reminding us to hear the call of the covenant, fulfill it and be loyal and true to God, not the idols we make for ourselves.

The last two verses above are Jeremiah’s awareness that the people, his neighbors, the people he is trying to save and care for, want him dead! He was and is so busy warning us, at times yelling at us, sounding the alarm so we can turn back to God and save ourselves, he isn’t aware of the plot against him. He is hyper-focused on his mission and he doesn’t realize the mendacity of the people is so great, they believe him to be a traitor, rather than a savior. It is so sad that the people are so stuck in the lies they tell themselves that they cannot discern fact from fiction, God from their idols, good from evil. Jeremiah is heartbroken and, he wants to be vindicated by God so he asks for righteous judgement and vengeance.

Rabbi Heschel teaches: “The shock of discovering how those who spoke “fair words” to him were seeking his life came as a bolt of lightening to a soul riven with pain, tortured by visions of imminent disaster. When Jeremiah became aware of a conspiracy to slay him it was more than he could bear. It was not his vested interests… that the prophet was fighting for. He was fighting for the physical survival of his people.” How often have we tried to kill the messenger? How often have we misread the words of Torah and the words of the prophets as history, as a myth, as something that is to be studied for the law, rather than a witness to our treachery, our breaking of the covenant? Jeremiah is shocked that the people he has been speaking to, the people he is trying to save want to kill him because they don’t want to hear the truth. Jeremiah has a lot of “skin in the game”, his love for his people is one of the motivators for him; his love for God is another; and his belief that people can and will change and return to God and Godly ways of living. This is the pain everyone who has ever been betrayed has felt; the pain of bewilderment, the pain of loss, the pain of hurt by the very people one has helped and believed in and continue(s) to help.

In recovery, we continue to make amends and return from the willful evilness of our prior actions and are constantly on guard against repeating them. We continue to be vigilant in turning our will and lives over to the care of God. We constantly search for ways to help others, warn others, and grow ourselves. Yet, we also know that there are times when people who don’t want to change will reject us and we have learned to pray for them, not against them. We reject the pull of our hearts to ‘get even’, wish them harm and we turn ourselves 180 degrees to pray for them and, at times, reach out to someone else who may be better able to speak to them in a way they can hear. 

I have experienced Jeremiah’s bewilderment and pain. I also have followed his example of returning to serving God and another(s) human being. It is so crucial to rise above the evil leanings of my heart (meaning mind and emotions) so that my soul can be in charge. When my soul is in charge, I can, must, and do spread God’s righteousness and God’s love, compassion, kindness and truth wherever I go. When my soul is in charge, the pain of betrayal doesn’t stop me from living my truth and authentically. When my mind and emotions are in charge, I stay in voluntary suffering for a long time and cause myself and those who love me, more pain and sadness. I hear God’s call today in a new way:“hear, understand and do My covenant, people will take advantage of you as they have Me. Do not give into the evil of your mind and emotions, allow your soul to lead so you can heal and continue your path.” This is the call to us today, we can hear it, do it, and rejoice in our healing as well as pray for the healing of our betrayers. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 92

Adonai is the true God; Adonai is the living God and the everlasting Sovereign. At Adonai’s wrath the earth quakes and the nations cannot endure his indignation. Woe to me for my hurt! My wound is severe. I said this is but a sickness and I must bear it. My tent is destroyed, all my cords are broken, my children have gone from me and are no more;…(Jeremiah 10:10,19,20).

In the first verse, Jeremiah is reminding us who Adonai/God is; truth, living and everlasting. There is a Hebrew phrase: God is truth, we can’t have truth on our own, we need God’s guidance. Jeremiah is reminding us that God doesn’t die, God is involved in our daily lives to the extent we allow God to guide us to truth and living well. Finally, God is forever, the Energy that fills the world and our souls with breath and life never dies, never leaves and we are a part of this energy. 

God’s wrath is taken as a bad thing by most people, yet, as noted in earlier days, this wrath is a purifying anger, not a retributive anger from hurt ego or need to overpower. Jeremiah’s words are a warning and a call to Judah: Stop your idolatry, stop your power grabs, principles were given to you, follow them or you will destroy yourself. We want to make this about God’s anger, jealousy, etc. and this is convenient so we don’t have to make it about our actions. Blaming another, especially God, is our way of claiming innocence and victimhood. 

The last verse is the verse of surrender to me. Jeremiah is speaking for God, himself,  and the people, because they all suffered a tremendous wound. The fall of Jerusalem was a tragedy for God as well as the people; for Jeremiah it was so personal, I believe, because he knew it could have been averted, had the people listened to him. When destruction occurs, God cries, the prophets wail and the people, at their highest level of being, take responsibility. We have to be responsible and take the actions of retying the cords, repair the canvas, call the children home and work together to set up a refreshed and renewed tent that includes everyone. A tent where God is worshiped, not power, not prestige, not wealth, not royalty; God sits on God’s Chair and we serve God and the greater good. This is what we, the descendants of the exiles get to do in their name and for their tikun, repair. 

Rabbi Heschel speaks about the wrath of God: “It is pictured as a sinister, malignant passion, an evil force, which must under all circumstances be suppressed. The truth, however, is that these features are accretions and exuberances, not its essence… Like fire, it may be a blessing as well as a fatal thing-reprehensible when associated with malice, morally necessary as resistance to malice.”(The Prophets, pg. 280,281).  This teaching is so very important to learn and appreciate. Unlike humans who want to make anger into either something sinister, oppressive, and/or controlling, God’s wrath is morally necessary. It is not on a whim that God’s wrath appears, it is always as a last resort to purge the people of their idolatrous and deadly paths/patterns. We tend to make God of the Hebrew Bible a ‘vengeful’ God, yet, in reality as I understand Rabbi Heschel’s teaching, God of the Bible constantly cares for and about humanity and does whatever it takes to help us live better, more connected and purposefully. 

In recovery, we know that God is Truth and turning our lives over to God, living God’s principles allows us to grow in spirt, in principle and in love each day. We get to be a servant of God and be of service to another(s), rather than selfish, self-centered and idolatrous. In recovery, we get to serve God after we have experienced the logical consequences of our actions. After we have been idol worshipers and after we have sought the quick fixes, used anger with malice and to gain power over another(s), we have returned and set up a newly repaired tent, with all of its patches to be open like Abraham’s tent was and a reminder of our previous errors and our current connection to and with God and humanity. In recovery, we are aware of both God’s wrath and God’s love and we get to live in God’s love because we have rejected malice and embraced God’s truth. 

I have experienced everything involved in these verses. I am in awe of Jeremiah that he could give the people a path and words for their sorrow while sitting in prison and I understand that prison doesn’t quench the words of God that are a part of us. In my case, it gave me the clarity to hear God’s call and begin to follow it. I have rewoven the tent I live in with all of the patches as neon lights that remind me of the way not to go. I also know that my anger is an anger against what is morally reprehensible. It is an anger that, while it may look like it is personal, is brought up when people are engaged in mendacity, evil actions that wound the needy and the poor. It is activated whenever there is sinister, malignant forces around. I am not saying that my anger is pure, it is tinged with the personal because I feel these forces personally. Yet, the activation is from a deep sense of standing up for and standing with those being taken advantage of. I know Jeremiah’s response to being called by the people who put him in prison, I know the “fire in the belly” that can’t be quenched, and I know the pain that comes from it. How are you using anger to purify and the energy to repair your tent and welcome God back into your daily living? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 91

“They use their mouths to deceive. One speaks to his fellow in friendship but lays an ambush for him in his heart. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the strong man glory in his strength, let not the rich man glory in his riches. Only in this should one glory: that he knows and understands Me, that I am the Lord Who does kindness, justice and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight.”(Jeremiah 9:7,22,23). 

Jeremiah is channelling God here and adding, I think, some of his own frustration. Here again, we see the prophet calling out the people to be better. The only reason for Jeremiah to speak these words is the hope and belief of both the prophet and God that humanity can do better than we are. I pray they are correct and I pray that we commit ourselves to this endeavor. 

Otherwise, we will continue to deceive with our mouths, while our actions are speaking a completely different language. The first verse above speaks to a root cause of evil in our world. People are more interested in being right, being ‘perfect’, blaming others and never taking responsibility for anything except their ‘victories’. We speak to one another as “brother” all the while planning how we are going to use/abuse them for our own gain. It has become an art form in our everyday living. How are the words on your lips matching what is in your heart? Rambam says they should. 

The last two verses quoted above, “let not….” answer the question of ‘how do I follow the Rambam’s teaching I just quoted. Actually, the prophet is asking us to think about all of the attributes we have as gifts from God, as I am reading this verse today. Many of us think we should be worshiped, lauded, applauded for our wisdom, our strength and our riches and Jeremiah is telling us to stand down and not be so stuck on ourselves. We are blessed with these attributes and, while we can take credit for using them, using them for our own gain goes against the spirit these attributes were given. 

Glory in “that he knows and understands Me” is the key to living well, Jeremiah is teaching us. Our wisdom, strength and riches are given to us, on loan to us, for the purpose of doing “kindness, justice and righteousness”. They are not given to us for our glory, rather the glory of God through these actions. What a different world we will have when all of us remember and adhere to Jeremiah’s words. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches regarding the last two verses above: “This is sublime knowledge, sublime understanding, a new grammar of experience. What we encounter in the world is not neutral, impersonal being, things, forces forms, colors. What we encounter is full of God’s kindness, justice, and righteousness… God’s love and kindness indicate a road…It is everywhere, at all times.”(The Prophets pg. 211). Immersing myself in this allows me to look for the love and kindness God is showing me when humans are not. A very difficult inquiry, yet a necessary one; for to engage in this inquiry deepens my connection with, love for and adherence to God’s ways, not the ways of society. While a just society is the goal, too often the result is in the words of the first two verses above. We don’t glory in God, we don’t understand and know God without living on this road of ‘love and kindness” that Rabbi Heschel is speaking about. It is everywhere and I find it as soon as I look for it, as soon as I lift up my eyes and see. 

In recovery, we have returned from being the deceiver, from “laying an ambush” for others, we have returned to the road of kindness and love that Rabbi Heschel speaks of. We have stopped being the center of our world and put God and another(s) in that place. We have come to realize that we are trusted by God to do God’s work in our corner of the world and not worry about the glory. Whenever a player points up to the sky at a sporting event, it is their way of acknowledging that the Glory belongs to God and I am blessed to be able to participate in God’s world. This is the reason being of service is so important in our recovery. A woman who has done so much for people over the years told me, after her eldest son died, “the only way I can cope is to give more of me so I can connect and repay God for the gift of my son.” While not an “addict” this woman has lived a life of recovery and kindness, love and righteousness all of her days. 

I also know both ways these verses illuminate. The difference is for the past 32+ years I have not had betrayal in my heart. I have not betrayed the principles God has laid out for us. I haven’t always followed them and I have suffered internally when I haven’t. I have never dropped them from my core beliefs and I consider kindness, love, righteousness, justice to be core and guiding principles of my life. I also realize that the betrayals I have experienced are not personal-they are not a reflection of me, they are a teacher for me to see what is, not what I want. I also have to not glory in the wisdom, strength and riches of another(s) and glory only in my understanding and knowing of God. This is a daily struggle and I engage in it each and every day-some days better and some days not. How do you celebrate God and not self? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 90

“Why is this people-Jerusalem-rebellious with a persistent rebellion? They cling to deceit, they refuse to return. I have listened and heard: they do not speak honestly, no one regrets his wickedness. Because my people is shattered, I am shattered. I mourn and dismay has taken hold on me.”(Jeremiah 8:5,6,21).

Jeremiah is wailing for God because of the rebellion of Jerusalem. What is the rebellion? The turning away from God, is of course, the easy answer. The deeper call here, I believe, as with so many of the prophetic calls, is they rebel because they refuse to return. Jeremiah is reminding us that perfection is not the goal nor the expectation of God, rather the goal is a constant turning back, returning, learning how to serve God a little more each and every day.

Our need to deceive ourselves and another(s) with the myth of perfection and the inability to take responsibility for our errors is a big part of our deceit and our dishonesty. Both the prophet and God are waiting for the people of Jerusalem to take inventory of their actions and return with a renewed commitment and faith. Yet, the people “cling to their deceit”. We are still clinging to our deceit and self-deceptions and it is still causing God and the prophets of today to cry out and beg us to return to God’s ways. 

Yet, no one is willing to “regret his wickedness”. No one is willing to own up to their errors because we believe it makes us weak. God, through Jeremiah, is telling us that owning up to our errors, regretting our bad actions, speaking truth and letting go of deceit will save us, make us stronger and cleanse us from our past mistakes. Yet, we are stuck in our “persistent rebellion” and, even worse, our self-deception tells some of us that we are doing God’s bidding!

To those people, I would suggest they look at the last verse above. Clinging to the self-deception allows some people to continue to lie, pervert the words of God, pervert justice for the poor and the needy, all of which shatters the people which in turn shatters the prophet. Jeremiah’s identification with and love for his people comes out so powerfully in this verse. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches: “Over and above man’s blindness stood the wonder of repentance, the open gateway through which he could enter if he would…Jeremiah, looking upon the garishness of Jerusalem, felt hurt by the people’s guilt and by the knowledge that they had a dreadful debt to pay.” (The Prophets pg. 104,105).  These words continue to remind us today that we can let go of our willful blindness, as Rabbi Heschel teaches, and open up to and walk through the gateway of repentance and return. He is reminding us of Jeremiah’s pain and hurt and dismay and despair at the fate of Jerusalem because of their wickedness. Rabbi Heschel is calling all of us to experience the wonder of repentance, enter this gateway and let go of our self-deception and false pride that we don’t need to repent nor return. The hubris of the people of Jerusalem and of people throughout the ages including today is that we can tell God what God’s ways are instead of following God’s ways and turning our life over to the care of God. We have, in our deceit, decided we know God better than the prophets knew God, even better than God knows God!

In recovery, we are so hyper-aware of our deceitful paths, our wickedness and the myriad of lives we shattered in our non-recovery living. We also know how blessed we are to have walked through the gateway of repentance and we marvel each and every day at the wonder of repentance, just as Jeremiah is teaching. In recovery, the first action we took was to let go of our deceit, stop rebelling against who knows what, and begin to seek truth, seek God. We learned and continue to practice speaking truth, being imperfect and making amends and learning new ways to be decent, kind, loving and follow God’s ways. We do claim our part of successes and failures in order to learn, grow and be right-sized. We repaired the ways we shattered another(s) both in ourselves and with another(s). In recovery, we don’t dismay, we believe change is possible because we are engaged in this change. 

I rebelled for many years, in fact for most of my life. At first, I rebelled against God, I practiced deceit, refused to return, did not regret my wickedness nor was I interested in speaking truth. I was angry and I wanted to “get mine and get even”. This was my response to my father’s death when I was 14 and he was 42. I miss him to this day and the difference is I am no longer angry, I am grateful to be his son and to have learned so much from him. My rebellion these past 32 years has been against the status quo or deceit, wickedness, self-deception people in power practice, be they politicians, leaders, CEO’s, Clergy, parents, etc. I have seen the need for perfection in these people and I get dismayed and loud about and to their mendacity. I am not perfect and admit that, yet, so many people are afraid to admit their errors and believe that they are right and God is telling them to act in accordance with their self-deception! How sad, how frightening, how painful! Being right-sized, hearing the call of God and Jeremiah is not easy, it is simple and the more I work on it, the more I hear, see and do. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 89

“Don’t put your trust in illusions…No, if you mend your ways and your actions; if you execute justice with one another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan and the widow; if you do not shed innocent blood, if you do not follow other gods to you own hurt, then I dwell with you in this place that I gave to your fathers for all time.”(Jeremiah 7:4,5-7). 

The first verse above says it all. Jeremiah is telling the people that they are believing the lies of the king and the priestly class, they are engaging in self-deception and calling it truth, so they are not fearful or, maybe, not even aware of how far from God they have strayed. Isn’t this what gets all of us in trouble?

The trust we put in our illusions and the illusions/deceptions by another(s) is doomed to get us into trouble, separate us from God and one another. One of the illusions is the perversion of justice will make me more powerful and protect me. This way of thinking and acting is so insidious to our destroying our spirit, the spirits of the people we interact with and the connection to God, as I am reading this verse today. 

Mending our ways means to let go of all the insidious, selfish, power-driven actions that were going on at the time. God is railing about injustice, again! Jeremiah is telling us to stop these evil ways, stop taking advantage of the voiceless and the powerless. I infer him to be telling us that God wants us to take care of the voiceless and the powerless,  not harm them further. 

Jeremiah is pleading with us to stop following false gods to our own ruin/hurt. He is screaming at us to save ourselves because, miracle of miracles, God is still willing to allow us to repent and to “dwell with” us in this place, in this moment and for all moments. God’s forgiveness and mercy know no boundaries, God’s forgiveness is always available, are we going to accept both through our actions of mending our ways and following God, not the different idols we have been? Are we going to stop living our illusions and live with God? 

Rabbi Heschel teaches: “To the people, religion was Temple, priesthood, incense:…Such piety Jeremiah brands as fraud and illusion… Worship preceded or followed by evil acts becomes an absurdity. The holy place is doomed when people indulge in unholy deeds.”(The Prophets pg.11). How apropos for the verses quoted above and what has happened throughout the ages up to and including today. Too many people associate religion and God with the edifices that purport to worship God and ‘represent’ religion. This may be the reason there are so many unchurched people in America today. Our institutions have to ‘walk their talk’ as we say in recovery. What is said and learned inside these places of worship must be practiced outside of them, not to get ‘mitzvah points’, rather to live well and make an inviting space for God to dwell with us! 

Regarding the call to return before and after speaking of the destruction that is about to happen, Rabbi Heschel says: “Man has the power to modify His design… the message of anger is a call to return and be saved. The call of anger is to cancel anger.”(ibid pg. 286).  Here again, Rabbi Heschel illuminates an important truth, we can cancel God’s anger, we can modify any decree by our behavior-if we return, the decree is cancelled, if we don’t, the decree is carried out. We can also think about this as the experience of continuing to go down a path of negativity and illusion, it brings us to destroy our inner lives, our outer lives and of those around us. Return and mend our ways allows us to know that we are always able to change. 

In recovery, we know all about living in illusions. We had been doing it for years and, our recovery is proof of verses 5-7. We are mending our ways, we are living a just life, we are caring for the alien, the widow, the orphan, the poor; the voiceless and the powerless because we have been all of these in our addiction, and in our recovery. It was an Anonymous Program because drunks were labeled “lost causes” and work wasn’t readily available, families were shunned, etc. So we know we have to accept anyone and everyone who wants to “mend their ways and actions”, because we were accepted when we first showed up. In recovery, we are constantly checking our selves and our actions for errors and for victories so we continue to “walk our talk” without the need to be perfect. Our recovery is the path and space where God dwells within us and we live well. 

When I think of all of times I have trusted in the illusions of my mind/emotions and/or the illusions of others, I see the harm, pain and learning that occurred. I am grateful for all the people who help me see when I am in illusion and lift me out of them. It hurts, often to leave the illusions about other people, ones who have been trusted by me; it hurts to leave the illusion of how my career would end. Yet, as the text says, leaving them, practicing the actions that God wants and following a new path from God sets me free and I feel God dwelling within me. What illusions are you still giving in to? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 88

“Accept rebuke, Jerusalem, lest I come to loathe you. To whom shall I speak, give warning they will hear? Their ears are blocked and they cannot listen. They have acted shamefully; they have done abhorrent things yet they do not feel shame and they cannot be made to blush.”(Jeremiah 6:8,10,15).

The loathing of Jerusalem is almost complete, as I read verse 8 above. Yet, there is still time to repent, to accept the rebuke and change the paths they have been traveling. Here is a truth that the prophets know, teach to us and, most of us can’t believe. God, Jeremiah, the angels, no entity wants to loathe Jerusalem, no one wants to loathe their children, their family, their partners, yet the behaviors of these partners, family members, etc cause God, Jeremiah, you and me, to have to loathe them and shun them and exile them. I hear the pain of Jeremiah, God, every parent, friend, partner in the opening cry to Jerusalem to come back to home base. 

What is Jeremiah’s concern? There is no one to speak to. There is no one who can hear the warning, hear the alarm because their “ears are blocked and they cannot listen”. We are the ones who block our ears, not God, not another, it is our choice to not listen, to block out anything that doesn’t fit with the way we want to see life/reality. We choose to fill our heads, hearts and ears up with the mendacity and self-deceptions that make us feel good and eschew reality, eschew truth, eschew the hand of God reaching out to help us return to the covenant, to the partnership, to the marriage, to the family. 

We know that this to be true from the last verse quoted above, no matter what the people of Jerusalem do, they don’t feel the impact of their actions and they are incapable of being responsible for the harm, destruction, they bring to the world and to God. The connection to God, to ancestors, to family are the origins of our life experience, yet we are ready willing and able to cut ourselves off from these for our false ego, our self-deception and personal ‘gain’. All the time we are losing our authenticity, our connections and our soul. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches: “The ultimate purpose of a prophet is not to be inspired, but to inspire the people, not to filled with a passion, but to impassion the people with understanding for God. Yet the ears of this people were closed:”(The Prophets pg.115). Jeremiah is working so hard to inspire us and to reignite our passion for God, and the people just won’t hear, they close their ears to anything and everything that doesn’t fit into their framework/picture of what reality is. I am reminded of Rabbi Heschel’s teaching about Radical Amazement, that our greatest problem is acceptance of the conventional notions and mental cliches that prevent us from learning. When we lead with reason, we will try and adapt reality to what our minds want it to be rather than seeing it for what it is and adapting ourselves to reality. The people of Jerusalem are doing the former, not the later. This behavior, however, is not limited to the people of antiquity, as Rabbi Heschel’s writings, speeches, demonstrations, and protests attest to. He reminds us that Jeremiah knew the futility of his mission, the people had evil thoughts as well as evil deeds, they had convinced themselves that what they were doing was actually good! Yet, he continued on in his mission, he left these words for us to “impassion us with understanding of God” and be the people who repent for our ancestors as well as ourselves and open our ears to hear his words, his thoughts and follow the path of return both he and God have laid out for us. 

In recovery, we come to accept the rebuke of God and another(s) in the process of writing our personal inventories. We are able to see and hear God telling us what good and what not good we have done up to that point in our lives. When we first came into recovery, many of us heeded the wisdom to “take the cotton out of our ears” so we can listen and heed the wisdom of another(s) who has more experience in recovery. While before recovery, we could not accept any criticism, hear anything anyone was saying that didn’t agree with our view and had no clue what was abhorrent or shameful about our actions, today we welcome constructive criticism, listen with our souls and continue to take personal inventory to see what we have done well and what we haven’t done well each and every day. We know the damage done from hubris, closed mindedness, and haughtiness, we know the destruction of family, relationships and spirits we have caused by living in these ways. In recovery, we do our amends and have a plan to improve each day. 

I know this path well, I am guilty at times still today. Yet, I do tshuvah a lot quicker than in the “bad old days”! I relate to Jeremiah in his anger and frustration. I know the moment of accepting rebuke changes my life and the lives of those around me. I know the love and commitment people who help me unblock my ears make to me. I know the joy of feeling the shame for my erroneous actions so I can change them. I know the joy of doing T’Shuvah and being accepted back into the fold of God, family, friends and community. I welcome the truth today in ways I could never have heard it 35 years ago. Jeremiah has filled me with passion for understanding of God and he has inspired me to grow each and every day. What actions are you still running from and what words do you still close your ears to? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 87

“Run to and fro in the streets of Jerusalem, see and know, please, in the broad open places if there is a man who does justly and practices faithfulness, and I will pardon it. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit; therefore, they have become big and grown rich. They have become fat and sleek, they judge not with justice, the cause of the orphan, they do not judge the right of the needy. Shall I not punish them for these things? Says God, shall not My soul be avenged?(Jeremiah 5:1, 27-29)

Jeremiah is explaining how much God wanted to be wrong about Judah, about the people God raised up from Egypt. God is so desperate to not destroy Judah that for the sake of one righteous person, God is willing to spare Judah the fate it has sought through its evil ways. There is a deep pleading with Jeremiah that I hear from God in this first verse above. 

Jeremiah is as dismayed at his inability to find the one man to save the city as Abraham must have been to not find 10 to save Sodom. I am shaking at the impact of this verse-we can be redeemed by the actions of one person and it takes everyone going along with the wicked/evil/indecent person to cause our destruction. We all have it within our power to be redeemers, yet we choose to go along with, not stand up to and fear the power of the autocrat, the hater, etc. How sad and strange. 

God’s response is one of defeat, anger and sadness. Whenever we get too big, out of proper measure, we become deceitful in order to hold on to what we have and gain more. Once we taste the gains of our deception, we continue to deceive in order to get more and more. The great deception, of course, is that God doesn’t care, God doesn’t live, God is irrelevant. These ‘holy people’ engage in the most unholiest practices-self-deception, deception of another(s), and perversion of justice. 

On this last point, God is not willing to let it slide. Abraham called God, Judge of the world and asked God to do justly; God asks the same of the Judah and us. Yet, like Judah before us, we refuse to judge with justice at times, we judge with self-interest. The cause of the orphan and the needy are second or third behind our self-interest and the interests of our cronies/friends/co-conspirators. This is too much for God. The decision is not God’s but man’s, it is our decision to pervert justice that leads to our destruction. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches:”Jeremiah depicted the dramatic tension in the inner life of God.”(The Prophets pg.137). What an amazing concept to me, just as we have an inner life, so too does God. Rabbi Heschel’s comment here is so radical and yet so profound and simple. God wrestles with what the next right thing to do is because of God’s unending mercy, compassion, kindness and love. While it would be easy to just follow a formula-this violation gets this penalty, Jeremiah is telling us, as I understand Rabbi Heschel, that God doesn’t believe this is justice. Justice that doesn’t include righteousness, faithfulness, love, redemption, is not justice at all.

“Jeremiah, looking upon the garishness of Jerusalem, felt hurt by the people’s guilt and by the knowledge that they had a dreadful debt to pay.”(Ibid. pg. 132). The prophet is pained and hurt, not for himself, but for God. Jeremiah is going “to and fro” for the sake of both the people and God. He is overwhelmed, I believe, by the destruction that the people are bringing upon themselves and the hurt that God experiences both by having to bring this destruction and the faithlessness of God’s people. We are all God’s people, we all need to look inside ourselves and redeem ourself and each other to bring us back to justice, kindness, faithfulness, love, truth, etc. 

In recovery, we are now the people that Jeremiah was looking for in the first verse above. We have been the people in the other verses, we have courted, married and reveled in our negative behaviors and deeds and thoughts. We have perverted and polluted everything within our reach. Now, however, we have resown our covenant with God, we have resown our covenant with family, friends and people in recovery. We welcome being held accountable, we seek out ways to ‘carry the message’ and we are dedicated to seeking justice for the poor, the needy and for God. We are no longer willing to defile ourselves and ignore God’s call, we are dedicated to doing justly and staying true and faithful to God.

I, too, have lived both sides of this equation. My maturity and recovery began in 1986 when I did not blame anyone or God for my arrest, I took it as a sign. I no longer seek to pervert justice, I no longer seek to “get mine” at your expense. I no longer need to be right at any cost. I no longer engage in self-deception and deception of another(s) knowingly and when I realize I am, I do T’Shuvah for it. I no longer need to take advantage of anyone nor do I need to hold on when it is time to let go. Nothing is worth returning to the days of treachery, unfaithfulness and harlotry that I practiced. Hanging with God and people who serve God and wrestle with their inner lives is so much better than hanging with drunks and thieves. How are you being faithful to God today? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 86

“If you will return, Israel, says God, return to me… If you swear God lives, in truth, in judgement, in righteousness… Circumcise yourselves to God and take away the foreskins of your heart…Wash your heart from evil, Jerusalem, that you may be saved. How long shall your negative thoughts be lodged inside of you.”(Jeremiah 4:1,2,4,14)

Jeremiah is deeply committed to Judah saving herself. He keeps speaking truth to power, truth to the people and continues to call for Judah/Israel to “return to God”. The return, according to the second verse is to take an oath that God lives. How strange a request this is, on the surface, because the Temple and all of its trimmings and trappings, sacrifices and incense burnings, etc. were happening. Yet, Jeremiah is telling us that God doesn’t live in the rituals, God lives in truth, judgement and righteousness and can’t be bought off by the false rituals. Even after all of the betrayals, Jeremiah is saying that God will accept our oath one more time…

If we follow it up with an action; circumcise our ourselves, cut away the foreskins of our hearts that prevent us from acting in truth, judgement and righteousness. We are being given another warning, another opportunity to cut through the thickness that surrounds our hearts and our minds and prevents us from a real connection to and with God. Jeremiah is, as Moses did, reminding us of our stubbornness and our unwillingness to surrender to God. We will surrender to another country when they invade us, we surrender to supposed allies who harm us, yet, we will not surrender to God. We don’t surrender, I believe, because we are afraid to be seen, we are afraid to be authentic, we are afraid to surrender to God because then we cannot hide. How sad for Jerusalem, how sad for Judah, this lack of surrender caused their destruction. How sad for us, as this lack of surrender will and does destroy us individually and as a nation. 

Jeremiah is calling on us to wash away the evil that is in our hearts. After we circumcise our hearts, we have to cleanse it, we have to wash away the evil, the negativity, the fear, the facades, the false self we have portrayed for so long. It is time to hold up our end of the covenant and we cannot do this with a heart that is full of evil and a mind full of negative thoughts. Jeremiah is imploring us to stop trying to fool God, lie to ourselves and get over on other people

Rabbi Heschel teaches: “He offered both grief and rebirth, both doom and redemption.”(The Prophets, pg. 161) regarding the first two verses above. Jeremiah’s belief is that God is offering both to us.  I am struck by Rabbi Heschel’s observation, is grief the only way to rebirth, is doom the only way to redemption? In looking at the history of our people, our experience could be interpreted in this manner. We “get fat” and go away from God and our path; we are conquered by nations that do not know God, we suffer for a time and then we return and we are restored.

In the face of this indictment and call for return, “there was no sense of guilt, no feelings of shame. Judah said, I am innocent.”(The Prophets pg. 162). This is why Jeremiah’s words are so harsh and his passion for God and for the people is so strong; he knows that as long as evil has a hold of our hearts and negativity is controlling our minds, we are doomed; the problem is he can’t get the people to understand this and change because of the lies of the powerful and the priests. 

In recovery, we are constantly circumcising our hearts and cutting away the layers that block us from our full connection with God. We know the power of the evil that resides in our hearts because of the need to be in power, the jealousy of another(s) and the lies we tell ourselves. In recovery we do constant and consistent inventories of our souls, our hearts and our minds to prevent us from going back to the evil ways we once practiced and the negative presence we brought to all our affairs. Now, we are able to return to God through the practice of justice, truth, righteousness and service to another(s). In recovery, we get to live free of the “need” to prove we are worthy, we just know we are and bring our value to all of our affairs as well as our principles. 

I have to continually wash my heart and dislodge negative thoughts. I know Jeremiah’s anger and passion and, like Jeremiah, mixed my righteous anger for God’s sake with my own righteous anger for my sake and it has blown up in my face. Yet, I also know that if we are not willing to be angry for God, then we will never stand up for justice, truth and righteousness. I am guilty of being too passionate (some say angry) at times. Yet, if people will see me, they will see that my overzealousness is for the sake of another(s) and God a great majority of the time. I am guilty and I make amends, do T’Shuvah, more than once for this way of being. I know Jeremiah because I lose myself in the same ways as he does. I am not proud of my actions in those moments and I can accept my progress. I know that people use these ways against me, oh well, I loaded their guns so I should not be disappointed or surprised when they fire them. I also know that God is the only source that can help me dislodge my negativity and return in love, compassion, justice, righteousness and truth to those who feel harmed and, most of all, to those who love me and accept me. How do you stay in God’s will and not your negativity? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 85

“You have played the prostitute with many lovers and would you return to me, says God? Return, you faithless Israel, I will not look at you in anger, for I am merciful. Only acknowledge your guilt that you have transgressed against the Lord, your God. Return faithless children and I will heal your faithlessness.”(Jeremiah 3:1,12,13,22). 

Jeremiah’s words ring out in anger, frustration and deep concern and caring. This call to the people of and Judah is harsh and soul shaking. In the first sentence, the indictment of our wrongs are being read out loud so we can hear and so can everyone else. Much like a modern day courtroom. Yet, I also hear the call of God to the people to return, even after all of their whoring around. 

I know you have been unfaithful, says God, and I still want to take you back in kindness and mercy. Can you imagine the drop in the divorce rate if people would be more God-like and believe in T’Shuvah, in return? Jeremiah is teaching us that the Covenant is more important than the whoring around. Rather than being angry, God wants reconciliation and connection, with a caveat. The people have to own up to their guilt in following other gods and nations. They have to do their Chesbon HaNefesh, an accounting of their soul, and confess their errors. This is not a whitewash by God, this is not “Oh, I am so glad to have you back, everything is forgiven”, rather it is own up to your errors and make amends and we can reconnect. 

How important is the acknowledgement of guilt? Once we do this, according to the last verse above, God will heal our faithlessness! What a gift that most people do not avail themselves! Even the Rabbis made it too easy to acknowledge the guilt we need to own, confess and do a whole T’Shuvah for when they gave us a formula to ask people for forgiveness at Yom Kippur, “if I have done anything to harm you…”. Here, Jeremiah is telling us that God can only take us back, can only heal us when we confess and then rather than anger, there is mercy. Rather than punishment, there is healing. Rather than exile there is connection. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches us: “God’s love of Israel is one of Israel’s sacred certainties which Jeremiah, like Hosea and Isaiah before him, tried to instill in the minds of the people.”(The Prophets pg. 135). Pondering these words fill me with awe, reverence and trembling. God’s love for us is a certainty! Yet, so often we question it, we cry out when things don’t go our way as if God has abandoned us, God is punishing us, etc. Rabbi Heschel is telling us to stop questioning God’s love, it is a “sacred”, an elevated, connected action that is continuously given to us by God. Remembering this truth can help us stay faithful to God. He goes on to say: “…Jeremiah did not think that evil was inevitable. Over and above man’s blindness stood the wonder of repentance, the open gateway through which man could enter if he would.” (Ibid, pg. 132). What an amazing statement, since the prophets are looked upon as angry men who only castigate the people. What most of us miss is the deep love and unwavering hope the prophets and God have for Israel, for Judah, for humankind! Evil is not inevitable, this phrase is so radical, so elevated, so hopeful and so true. It is going to take everything we have in our soul as individuals and collectively as a community to make this phrase a reality. It will take our walking through this open gateway individually and then bringing others with us. We can defeat evil, we need to acknowledge our errors, return to God and allow God to heal us, allow God to repair us and allow God to love us until we can love ourselves and another(s). 

I am taking a break from naming the ways our political leader are bringing us down to destruction for a while.

In recovery, we know all about whoring around. Prior to recovery, we flitted and flirted, we prostituted and polluted, and we celebrated our faithlessness. In recovery, we heard the call to return from God and we followed the call this time. Our souls shook with fear, awe and relief to be welcomed back by God, family and community. Yet, we knew that we could not just show up and say ‘I’m back’. We had to acknowledge our faithlessness with the people in our lives as well as with God. We had to ask for forgiveness and then it could, and most often, would be granted. God’s mercy is greater than God’s anger and the same is true for most human beings. We allowed others and God to love us until we could love ourselves and we were specific and stood face to face with another(s) to make these amends. In recovery, we have been the recipients of God’s love, mercy, forgiveness and healing. 

I have also received this grace, mercy, kindness, love, healing and forgiveness from God and so many others. I am blessed to be able to see, sometimes sooner sometimes later, my part in my interactions and ask for forgiveness and reconnection with another(s). I am blessed by the love God, my family, friends, etc. I realize from these words that people who need to punish me for my errors, who need to betray and sever the connections we had are to be pitied, not hated. How sad it is for them to live like this, when God is wants our return. The gateway of return is open 24 hours a day, each and every day. Will you walk through the gateway of return today? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 84

“The word of God came to me, saying. Thus said God: what wrong did your fathers find in me that they abandoned Me and went after delusion and were deluded? They have forsaken Me, the Fount of living waters.”(Jeremiah 2:1,5,13). 

Jeremiah begins chapter 2 with “The word of the Lord came to me”, which is a statement too overwhelming to most of us. We, people of modernity, want to rebel against the idea that God spoke to the Prophets, that God inspired the Prophets, yet for people throughout the generations, these words made sense and spoke of an experience that was envied and sought. I believe we all can hear the ‘call’ of God, that God is ‘calling’ to each of us and the ‘voice’ that ‘spoke’ on Mount Sinai is still reverberating today. This concept expressed in the opening verse of chapter 2 puts a tremendous responsibility on all of us to do the actions that the Call of God is directing us to. 

When we don’t, God’s experience, which is what Jeremiah is relating in verse 5, is one of sadness and bewilderment. The question that God is asking is an important one for all of us to ask and respond to. What was/is the wrong that another finds in us in order to abandon us? What is the wrong we find in God to abandon God? What is the wrong we find in another(s) to abandon them? Jeremiah’s words ring so true here-delusion, mendacity, self-deception; these are the root causes of abandonment of God, abandonment of another(s) and people abandoning us. We walk away from God, from another(s) because of our self-deception that there is something better with another(s), idol, human, etc. 

The Hebrew word used for what they went after is Hevel, mist. We run after illusions and delusions and we can never really connect or hold on to them because they are like mist, they disappear quickly and we are left to delude ourselves more they will come back. This is the way we forsake God the most, I believe Jeremiah is saying in the last verse above. Our delusions cause us to forsake our covenant with God, the “Fount of living waters”. We continue to forget that God is the source and has all of the wisdom, qualities and desire to impart to us the how to live well-and we reject God for some delusion, self-deception, unwilling to be responsive to God’s ‘call’. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches us “God’s pain and disappointment ring throughout the book of Jeremiah. What a sublime paradox for the Creator of heaven and earth to implore the people so humbly:”(The Prophets pg. 109/110).  Rabbi Heschel is reminding us that WE MATTER, to God, to another(s) and therefore have to take the actions that are responsive to this truth. God is not too haughty to not implore us to turn back, to remind the people of their folly and self-deception, not to embarrass them but to encourage them. God is encouraging us each and every day to return, do T’Shuvah and stop forsaking God, another(s) and ourselves. Rabbi Heschel reminds us that God’s sorrow ring out in these words above, how often have you and/or me felt this sorrow when someone abandons us, forsakes us, deceives us for their gain rather than principle? 

Our politicians need to look at themselves in the mirror and see how they have forsaken God in their treatment of people ‘different’ than themselves. We, the People, have to remind them of God’s call to all of us to stop deluding ourselves and another(s) with lies and mendacity. Stop judging another human being by the color of their skin or the faith they practice and make the words of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, come true, people will be judged on the content of their character. Elected officials in States and the Federal Government, the content of your character is showing and it is not very pretty when it comes to Voting Rights, to “all men are created equal” and your denial of the “unalienable rights”. 

In recovery, we are veterans at forsaking God, we deluded ourselves with lies, mendacities, false solutions and sought out new Founts. Be they drugs, alcohol, money, power, prestige, etc. we ran after anything that would give us a fix and found these delusions to be like the mist that Jeremiah talks about, gave us a quick respite and then made our lives exponentially worse. In recovery, we recommitted to our covenant with God, we continually seek to improve our relationship with God through bettering our relationships with another(s). We take a daily inventory to find the lies we tell ourselves and another(s) in order to see truth and repair damage. 

I have experienced my own forsaking of God during my addictive years and, at times, in my recovery. The difference is in recovery, I returned to the covenant quickly and stopped engaging in self-deception. I have been abandoned by another(s) in my recovery and each time it hurts and I feel the sorrow that Jeremiah speaks about. I know what I did to help the people around me was answering God’s call to me. When the result was them abandoning me, I can’t allow their deception to change me. How are you forsaking God, another(s) through delusion? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 83

“The word of the Lord came to me. Arise and speak to them all that I command you. Do not break down before them… I make you this day a fortified city…against Judah’s kings and officers, and against its priests and citizens. They will attack you, but they shall not overcome you; for I am with you, God declares, to save you.”(Jeremiah 1:4,17,18,19).

Having finished 1st Isaiah and on the recommendation of my Rabbi, Ed Feinstein, I am moving on to Jeremiah. This first verse is so amazing to me, yet so unremarkable. It is amazing that Jeremiah heard and knew it was the word of God coming to him, not some concoction of his ego, emotions, etc. It is unremarkable because the word of God is implanted in us and comes to us often, through prayer, study, meditation, interaction with another(s), connections with people. Yet, for most of us we don’t pay attention to God’s call. Jeremiah, as with the other prophets, not only heard the call, paid attention to God’s call; they also acted on it. 

In verses 17-19, God is telling Jeremiah what is in store for him. This is not going to be an easy task, people are not going to enjoy hearing the truth spoken to them. Even though they know the truth, they do not want to face it and this is Jeremiah’s job-speak truth to power and try and save the people from themselves. A very difficult task. So God makes him a “fortified city” the strength it will take to withstand the onslaught of the priests, the kings, the officers and the people is the strength it takes to withstand the attacks of enemy armies. I wonder if the attacks and Jeremiah’s ability to withstand them are a lesson for the people to withstand the attacks of their enemies, to become fortified cities in and of themselves so they can survive? 

Verse 19 is the promise to Jeremiah the makes everything he will go through worth it. God lets him know that his spirit will not be defeated, no matter how hard they try because God is with him and will save him. This is the promise God makes to him and keeps for him. 

Rabbi Heschel writes: “Revelation is not a voice crying in the wilderness, but an act of received communication… Unlike the voice, bath kol,  spoken of in old rabbinic literature, the voice the prophet hears is calling upon him.”(The Prophets, pg 437-438). He also says: “Having been enabled to withstand like a fortress all the attacks that came from without, Jeremiah’s inner life never turned to bronze or iron.”(ibid. 123). These teachings are to show us that Jeremiah was not, by nature, the lunatic the people made him out to be, he wasn’t a traitor or a charlatan, he was a messenger with a message the people did not want to hear. The voice of God was thrust upon him, not sought out, he did not submit a resume for the job, God called and Jeremiah, like all prophets, answered. The teaching Rabbi Heschel gives us about Jeremiah’s inner life is so crucial to learn. When we know that God is guiding us, when we know we are responding to God’s call, the attacks on us do not turn us negative, rather they invoke more Divine Pathos from us. Our inner life gets more connected to God and we can have compassion instead of anger. This was Rabbi Heschel’s way as well. He withstood all the attacks because God saved him, God strengthened him and he was responding to God’s call to him. 

If only our politicians would do the same. Much like the kings, officers, priests and people of Judah, our politicians are not willing to hear the word of God nor respond to God’s call. They want the power and will wield it to their own destruction and ours. Matt Gaetz, the legislatures of Georgia, Texas, et al, the Senate Republicans and some Democrats who believe the tradition of the filibuster is more important than voting rights and gun safety? Who believe partisan politics is more important than the lives of their constituents? God will save William Barber, Joe Biden, and all who support life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, from the inner death that these charlatans have experienced. They could come back to life, it will take hearing and responding to the call of God, not their ego, their power-hungry, prestige-seeking selves. 

In recovery, we heard and continue to hear the call of God. For most of us, the voice of God was thrust upon us to move into recovery NOW. While God’s voice is always calling, we knew that if we didn’t move NOW, when we heard the call loud and clear, we might not hear it again. Like the prophets, it overpowered us, it caught us by surprise and we continue to seek out God’s call, God’s demand, God’s saving power each and every day. 

I am guilty of not staying true to my inner life, my soul when attacked. I have given in to despair, anger, hurt and acted out from those places inappropriately. I also have come back to hearing God each and every time. I have watched my attackers “win” and, now, realize that what they “won” was a hollow victory. I “win” every time I allow God to save my inner life, to strengthen me from the onslaught and to pay attention, as my wife Harriet Rossetto teaches, to what is good, my mission and to the call of and saving power of God that is within me. How are you responding or not to God’s call? Stay safe, God Bless and Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets 

Day 82

“Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the word of God of Hosts: A time is coming when everything in your palace, which your ancestors have stored to this day, will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left behind said God. And some of your sons,… will b taken to serve as eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. Hezekiah declared to Isaiah, The word of God that you have spoken is good. For he thought, it means there shall be safety in my time.”(Isaiah 39:5-8)

Isaiah comes to tell Hezekiah that he made a tremendous mistake showing the Babylonians everything in his palace. Isaiah knows that Hezekiah’s belief ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ is specious and mendacity in action. Unfortunately, Hezekiah revels in his own self-deception. 

This is not Isaiah on his own telling this to Hezekiah, this is Isaiah relating the word of God to him. He is telling him that Babylonia will come to conquer Judah, Jerusalem, the Palace and the Temple. He is explaining to him, in plain Aramaic, that not only will everything either be destroyed or taken, even his own flesh and blood, his own children will be castrated and become eunuchs to serve in the palace of another kingdom! And Hezekiah is unfazed.

Rather than be afraid and make some plans to undo what he has done, Hezekiah is pleased because he will not suffer defeat and whatever happens will happen after his death, so be it. What poppycock, what selfishness, what narcissism! Hezekiah is caring only about the immediate moment where he will be affected, not caring about what is coming next, after his death. His legacy is a legacy of self-centeredness and greed, he is more concerned with how he will look than how he can save his nation and ensure his family’s safety and continued rule. 

Rabbi Heschel speaks about Hezekiah and his ilk in his book Man is Not Alone, pg. 91/92. “We all wear so much mental make-up, we have almost forfeited our face. God…is an eternal challenge, an urgent demand.” Hezekiah’s mental make-up, like so many people, especially those in power, was more important to him that God’s challenge and demand, more important than saving his sons from disgrace and loss of dignity, more important than ensuring the people of Judah were safe and secure! Rabbi Heschel says in his book The Prophets, pg. 426/7 “The certainty of being inspired by God… is the basic and central fact of the prophet’s consciousness. It was such certainty of being inspired that enabled the prophet to proclaim…Hear the word of the Lord”. Yet, Hezekiah and so many of us would/will not hear nor listen nor act on the words of God as spoken by the Prophets.

Our political leaders are so stuck in emulating Hezekiah that they also cannot/will not hear the words of God, of the Prophets. McConnell can tell corporations to get out of politics after he made corporations gain the same rights as individuals. Get out of politics and keep giving to me and my cronies so we can stay in power. McConnell and the Republican Party don’t seem to understand that this is not politics, it is decency, human rights, abiding by the constitution in the strictest sense, and it is about standing up for the poor and the needy. McConnell who claims to be a Christian is blaspheming Christ’s name and ignoring God’s words and paths so he “will be safe in his time”. We, the People have to rise up and say NO to the Blasphemers of our Constitution and of God’s Word. 

In recovery, we are all about service. Yes, transparency is a key to living well and that does not mean ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’. In recovery we focus on how to be congruent and kind, open and safe, imperfect and responsible. We would never sacrifice our children for our momentary gain. We did that before, in our addictions, and we are committed to living a life that never does this again. We see ourselves as loyal and trusted servants of God/Higher Power and our goal is to continuously “turn our Will and our Lives over to the Care of God, as we understand God”. We will make mistakes, just not ones like Hezekiah, we have surrendered our narcissistic behaviors, our selfishness, our self-centeredness, our practice of mendacity to God and, in turn we have acquired a spirit of openness, service, caring, kindness, seeking justice and truth, acting in loving ways even when feeling it not, deep compassion and unwavering hope. In recovery, we know where Hezekiah’s and McConnell’s path will take us and everyone around us and we now say NO to that path. 

I continue to root out my own self-deception and mendacity. I continue to check my selfishness at the door before taking an action. I continue to care for myself, my family, my community in every way possible to ensure their continued growth and health. I continue to accept my powerlessness over others. I continue to be graced with the clarity to accept the things I cannot change and the courage to change the things I should. I continue to be blessed and grateful. I continue to surrender my will to God’s Will. I continue to be imperfect and improve one grain of sand each day. How are you heeding the Call of God and the Prophet today? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 81

“A poem by King Hezekiah of Judah when he recovered from the illness he had suffered… “My God, it is hard for me, be my rescuer. I live and breath, You have restored me to health and revived me. It was for my own good that I had such great bitterness:… because you have sent my errors behind me.”(Isaiah 38:9,14,16,17).

These verses come from Hezekiah after Isaiah told him to “set his affairs in order” he prayed to God, wept for his errors and was granted more life. Hezekiah is reminding us that getting well is a gift, not to be taken for granted. When we pray for healing for ourselves and another(s), we also have to be grateful to God when healing happens, hence the “Gomale” prayer we recite after an illness. While it is not only a heavenly decree that keeps us alive and heals us, I know that God imbues our doctors, nurses, aides, etc with skill, kindness, grace and wisdom to ensure that all possible measures are done to heal us. I also know that the more healing spirit we believe in, grow, and take from others, the better our odds at healing becomes. Whether it is to the medical staff, the caretakers around us, God, family, friends, it is important to thank them. 

Hezekiah is also reminding us to call out for help when we need it. If the King of Judah was able to surrender his puffed up parts of himself, his ego, to ask for help to heal, then we can also. He calls out to God: “it is hard for me”, these words should be resonating within all of us.When that happens, according to this chapter of Isaiah, we know to call out to God for help for rescuing as our people have for over 4000 years. 

In Hezekiah’s case, he is restored to health. He doesn’t take it for granted by saying how his life style made it so, his doctors’ made it so, rather, he credits God for restoring him to health and reviving him. Reviving him is the key for me in this sentence; physical health is only a part of healing, the other part is spiritual health. Hezekiah’s use of the term healing connotes spiritual health to me. This is such an important part of healing, I believe my father survived 6 of his 7 heart attacks because of his spiritual healing and his spiritual connection. I know my brother, Stuart, lived much longer with his type of MS than expected because of his spiritual healing, and connection. There are studies that show spiritual connection (faith) helps in the healing process.

Lastly, Hezekiah states an unpleasant truth; sometimes we suffer because we are unable to own our errors, our missing the marks, our ‘sins’. In the final verse above, Hezekiah realizes that the bitterness he felt was reminiscent of the bitterness he gave to other people in his ‘wrong-doing’. He realizes that what he went through is the bitterness having to go through him to leave him, just as he has to mend his erroneous ways. Having the bitterness go through him, cleanse him and leave him allows him to know that his errors, missing the marks, ‘sins’ have been forgiven, are in the past and don’t have to inform his present and future. He is grateful beyond words for this. 

Rabbi Heschel does not comment on these verses in The Prophets. However, in recovery, we know these verses all too well. We have suffered from a spiritual malady as well as a physical, emotional and intellectual malady. What is so interesting about addiction and, I believe, all life-threatening diseases is that the physical, emotional and intellectual parts of the disease can be dealt with and there is not a complete healing without the spiritual component. In recovery relapse happens because of neglect of our spiritual program, usually. It happens when people stop being grateful to God for their revival, for their healing and allow themselves to buy into the deception by others and their own self-deception. Each day for those of us in recovery, we are grateful to God for another day in recovery, we improve our spiritual connection and condition ‘one grain of sand’ more each day and we continue to keep our ego’s in check and make amends for our errors the previous day. 

I have had to go through the bitterness that Isaiah speaks about more than once in my recovery. I have to go through it to discern the causes of conflict, pain, hurt and separation that has taken place between me and another(s). I know when I am experiencing bitterness, I have to look inside first. I go through this bitterness to make amends for things I haven’t already and cry out to God to revive me, heal me. I have found in this past 14 months that the hurt, anger, pain and sadness for being told I am no longer wanted someplace has lingered and taken this long to leave me. I realize now  (hindsight is 20/20) I had taken responsibility for my part of the issue and my honesty, my truth was being used to absolve the people on the other side of the issue. When I can blame someone else; I don’t have to look at me. The bitterness that was in me was the need for them to own their part and they can’t. This is sad and, my pain, hurt and sadness turned to anger which increased the bitterness. I am grateful that God has removed the bitterness and the anger this Passover. I pray for those who are still stuck in their self-deception and I know God is “near to us” all we have to do is call out. What are the ways you improve your spiritual condition daily? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 80

“I know your stayings and your goings and comings, and how you have raged against Me. Because you have raged against Me, and your arrogance has reached My ears, I will put My hooks in your nose, and My bit between your jaws; and I will make you go back by the road by which you came. A remnant will come forth from Jerusalem, survivors from Mount Zion. The passion of God of Hosts will make this happen.” (Isaiah 37:28,29,32).

The first two verses in today’s quote are Isaiah’s recitation of God’s words to Hezekiah, the King of Judah, who is afraid of what Assyria is going to do to Jerusalem, which is under attack. While the Assyrians are trying to breach the walls of the city, they are also sending messages of doom to Hezekiah and he prays to God and seeks the counsel of Isaiah. The response by God is toward the Assyrian King, and it could be towards Hezekiah as well. 

God is telling Hezekiah and all of us to stop believing the Big Lie we tell ourselves and others: we can rage against God, we can bastardize God’s words, teachings and principles, we can be arrogant, etc only for a certain period of time and then our actions will catch up with us. We will not be able to act with impunity forever. This is a message that should fill all of us with trembling awe, fear at how our actions have done these things and awe at the mercy, grace and forgiveness of God, once we repent, return and have a new response to life. 

I know this to be true because of the last verse quoted above, a remnant will be saved. This remnant will be saved because of its loyalty to God and God’s Ways and Will. The remnant is us, if we choose to be part of the remaining quality that lives, loves, follows God’s Will as God has given it to us, not as some ‘religious’ leaders/people, who are actually described in the first two verses, bastardize the teachings of God, through Moses, Jesus, Mohamed, Dalai Lama, Buddha, etc. 

We survive and thrive through and because of God’s passion for us and, I would add, God’s belief in us. We are all alive through the Grace of God and the Passion for life and partnership that God has towards us. It is time to heed the prayer of Hezekiah, the acknowledgement of God’s singularity, power, kindness, etc. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches us that these words of Isaiah quoted above came when “the plight of Jerusalem seemed desperate…Jerusalem was alone. In that hour of distress and disgrace, Isaiah proclaimed the word of God…(The Prophets pg.76). How astute an observation-when we are at our wits end, we call out to God. For many of us it takes desperation, aloneness, distress and disgrace to return to God for guidance, assistance, strength and hope. Isn’t this sad that we can’t learn from the past errors of our ancestors and we keep doing the same things expecting different results? 

This is the insanity of our political leaders, doing the same things over and over again expecting different results. The Democrats are trying to please everyone with bi-partisanship and being everything to everyone-which never works. The Republicans only want to obstruct unless they can get judges and tax breaks-which is not governing for what is needed in any given moment. One side wants can’t get along with each other and undermines the steps of progress being made and the other wants to go back to ‘the good old days’ of Jim Crow, hatred of Italians, Jews, Irish, Asians, voter suppression and see this as progress and a good thing. We, the People, have to remind the charlatans that God will “make you go back by the road by which you came” and vote the liars and deceivers out. 

In recovery, we are aware of raging against God and the resulting experiences from this behavior. It is these experiences which brought us to our knees and into recovery. God, however, does not want us on our knees for long, I believe. God wants us to be that remnant that stands strong and tall, straight and clear-eyed, dedicated to fulfilling God’s Will and living well. This is the Covenant that we make with God in recovery, a covenant that God continues to keep and we continue to err and come back to. There is no perfection in recovery, only a constant search for Truth and how to fulfill God’s Will for us. We, those of us in recovery, are “the remnant” that has come forward to proclaim the kindness, forgiveness, justice, mercy, compassion, truth of God. 

I had to be dragged by the hooks in my nose and the bit in my mouth into this life. I didn’t know that at the time, I didn’t know that change was possible. I knew I couldn’t keep going that way and, in my time of desperation, distress, aloneness, and disgrace, God reached out to me and I listened and followed the Call of God. I have not regretted following this call ever over these past 34+ years. I am not perfect in my ways and I have never veered from the path God has laid out. What I learned is t’shuvah, imperfection, forgiveness, mercy/grace are all part of God’s path. Are you following God’s path of Grace and Mercy? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets- wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 79

“Beware of letting Hezekiah mislead you by saying, ‘ God will save us.’ Did any of the gods of other nations save his land from the king of Assyria? Which among all the gods of those countries saved their countries from me, that God will save Jerusalem from me?(Isaiah 36:18,20).

A messenger from the king of Assyria is delivering this message to the people of Jerusalem so they surrender. He has stated that God sent the king to conquer Jerusalem, etc, all in the name of scaring the people into surrender.

Looking at what the king is saying is interesting. He is trying to upend the people’s faith in God. He is attacking the people at their most vulnerable place, trusting in God Who is not visible, not corporeal, only abstract. He is trying to undermine the faith of the people as well as call into question the experience of their ancestors. The troop leader is truing to use logic on the people, if no other god saved their own lands, how and why would God save Jerusalem. 

This is the way logic and faith are used to lie to self and another. Of course the other gods, false gods, idols, could not save the other countries! The Torah and Bible are replete with these stories, look at Pharaoh’s trust in Ra that was misplaced when God and Moses told him about the plagues. This is where self-deception creeps in to allow for the deception of another(s). The Assyrian troop leader really believes that might can make right, is a true believer in his kings assertion that only their god has the ultimate power, and tries to sell this to the people of Jerusalem. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches: “In order to force the city to capitulate by breaking down public morale, an Assyrian official, Rabshakeh, meets the representatives of Hezekiah and addresses them within the hearing of the people crowded on top of the city wall.” I believe Rabbi Heschel is reminding us that enemies of God, of decency, of Truth, love,  and of kindness etc will always try to deceive everyone else through fear and abandonment. Rabshakeh’s words are meant to let the people know that they have no allies, everyone else has either surrendered or been crushed, and God has abandoned them. This is the attempt made to break down the morale of the public and it happens on a personal level as well. It can be done by one individual to another, challenging a truth with a lie that is logical and makes sense, sort of. We see this with the Vaccine Rollout, we saw it with the response to the Pandemic, we see it when we have a dream and someone crushes it with “logic and deception”. Rabbi Heschel railed (this is how I hear him) against Segregation, restrictive voting rights, senseless hatred by Catholics toward Jews, the Vietnam War, any and all prejudices and mendacity.

Politicians hear this: Your deception of others will end in your ruin. Look at how many of your colleagues have left office and been disgraced by their actions either while in office or later on. Look at how few of you stood up for Sen. John McCain when Trump vilified him. Lindsey Graham, where were you? Oh yeah, you were playing Golf with the perpetrator of lies against your “best friend”. Where is the Republican Party when every piece of legislation to help the poor, the needy is DOA, according to “Moscow Mitch” McConnell? Where are the decent, faithful people of the country when immigrants are treated less than human, when people of color, people of different faiths, Asians, people seeking refuge and asylum (what the original pilgrims were seeking) are seen as scum and others which white people are told to fear? These politicians are the same as Rabshakeh, doing the bidding of the powerful to deceive and uproot faith in God. 

In recovery, another of our foundational principles and a cornerstone of our recovery is the letting go of deception of self and another(s). We know the results of worship and listening to false gods, idols we create; destruction, devastation, and demoralization. All of the idols did serve a purpose, however, they forced us to see the path God has put in front of us. The defeat of these false gods made us take off the blinders of deception and face what truly is, rather than what our defective eyesight was telling us. Rigorous honesty is what our recovery demands and we keep achieving, sometimes later and sometimes sooner. Surrender to God allows us to let go of the perfection lie and do good each day. It causes us to grow from our successes and missing the marks each and every day. Surrender to and faith in God causes us to see the God-Image in each and every person, seek to connect with and raise up all people and be of service to them and God in Truth, kindness, justice, caring and love. 

I have both deceived another(s) and been deceived by another(s). In my recovery, it has been only God that I have worshiped and I have been deceived by others who purport to join me in this mission while being self-seeking. I am not as smart as I once thought I was in sniffing out each and every phony. When I have been deceived, I have experienced a drop in my belief in community, people and myself. I have gained by these deceptions by seeing how I have given into my own self-deception, the harm it brought to people and what I need to repair the damage and grow from it. I am relieved to say I have learned from these experiences and am freer for them now. What self-deception do you still indulge? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 78

“Strengthen the weak hands, make firm the feeble knees. Say to the anxious of heart, be strong, do not fear; Here is your God! You will come back, you will benefit, God is coming to save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.”(Isaiah 36:3-5).

Isaiah is continuing to inspire the people with hope. After all of their missteps, after their defeat at the hands of their enemies, after they realize they need to return to God, God will and does respond a thousandfold. The first experience we have;  our hands gaining strength again, to hold on to each other, to hold onto God. Then our knees/legs are firmed up so we can stand up straight and tall, rather than bent over and fearful. 

“Be strong, do not fear” words so many of us have heard from parents, teachers, friends, spouses, etc. yet, they are so hard to actually practice. Reading these words in this context gives me a new way of understanding/hearing them when spoken. There is a valid reason to be strong and not fear(to the point of being paralyzed); God is here, God is imbuing us with strength, guidance and love. We will reap the benefits of our return to God and we are saved. Being strong here, I believe, is holding on to God, holding on to hope, holding dear these words of Isaiah. 

The last promise of Isaiah and God for today: eyes opened and ears unstopped. Isaiah is teaching us that we are all blind as soon as we turn away from God. We all stop hearing truth and seeing truth, we all stop hearing what is really being said and what we are really seeing. This leads us to not being able to discern what is real and what is imaginary, what is true and what is false. Now, we have returned to God who has been waiting for us and the fog lifts and we hear things clear as a bell. 

Rabbi Heschel speaks about verses 3 and 5 under the heading of No Word is God’s Last Word. “When all hopes are dashed and all conceit is shattered, man begins to miss what he has long spurned. For this reason, prophetic predictions are seldom final. A change in man’s conduct brings about a change in God’s judgement. No word is God’s final word.”(The Prophets pg 193,194). Many of us forget to return to God when our hopes are dashed, instead we sink into depression, which is why living in depression is the greatest sin. Living there, as opposed to visiting there, is a complete surrender to darkness and hopelessness, as I am understanding Rabbi Heschel today. God is waiting, God is searching for us, God desires our return and God needs us. These foundational truths of Judaism, of spirituality are acted upon by those whose eyes have been opened and ears have been unstopped. 

If only our politicians would open their eyes and unstop their ears. Another Capital Police Officer is killed, a week of healing/seeing the George Floyd murder trial and the racism practiced as normal, voting rights being taken away instead of broadened and encouraged. Lies from the mouths of Cruz, Gaetz, McCarthy, McConnell, Hawley, Greene, et al, silence from others. I call upon our politicians, who claim to love God to hear God, to open up your eyes and see what is and how you can relieve suffering, unstop your ears and hear the calls and the cries of the powerless and hopeless. Remember, others whom have been in your position and gone against God’s principles have brought ruin and destruction to themselves and the people. We, the People, will survive, we will be the remnant that the prophets talk about, you, o lying politician, will not. 

In recovery we were anxious and our hands were shaking and knees knocking when we began this journey. Our ‘prophets’(sponsors, people with more experience, clergy, therapists, etc) told us that we could and would succeed as we surrendered to and sought better contact with God, as we understand God. We slowly and surely gained strength in our knees and were able to stand on our own two feet, our hands stopped shaking and we began to create a new life with God and others assistance and guidance. We rejoiced in the coming of God and made amends, received forgiveness and the benefits we have reaped so far: a life of clarity, kindness, love, truth, justice and service; is beyond our wildest dreams. 

I have had to call on God many times in my recovery because my knees were weak, my hands were shaking, I was blinded by fear and could only hear the negative forces within me and outside of me. I cried out to God, I called upon my guides, my family, my wife, my daughter, my friends, my spiritual guide and they held me up until I could stand on my own again. Life will constantly throw us these roadblocks and I have to be aware of God’s presence and help all the time. Opening my eyes and unblocking my ears has led to a new awareness and a new freedom. I no longer need to prove my worth to anyone, I no longer need to push my way in nor blow up the concrete walls people have built in order to be heard by all. The promise of Isaiah, God is coming to save me, I will benefit and be okay, has happened over and over again for me. Pesach allowed me to see this again and leave the slavery of hurt, pain, anger, sadness, etc. What eye-opening revelation is changing you this year? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 77

“Come near Nations and hear, give heed people. Let the earth and those in hear; the world and what it brings forth. My sword shall be seen in the sky; it shall come down upon Edom… for justice. For it is God’s day of vengeance/vindication, the year of reward for Zion.”(Isaiah 34:1,5,8).

Isaiah is not just trying to get the nation of Judah to hear, revere, and respect God and God’s Will, he is trying to get the whole earth to do this. He is calling on all of us, every nation, every person to hear, heed and realize what their negative ways are bringing upon themselves. He is working hard to wake the people up, evidently they no not what they are doing. 

Isaiah is telling us that the ‘sword’ of God shall be seen, much like the rainbow is seen, I guess. Even seeing this ‘sword’ will not be enough to get people to change, seems to be Isaiah’s message/prophecy. Isn’t this sad? No matter how true something is, there are people who just won’t acknowledge these truths and they will cause their own ruin and the ruination of another(s). 

It is interesting that the only nation mentioned here is Edom. I am understanding this to mean Edom, more than most, broke faith with God and with the way of Esau-who was welcoming, caring, compassionate and faithful. After all, he took care of his mother and father even after they gave away his blessing. 

The last verse today, about God’s vengeance/vindication is problematic for most people. How can God, full of compassion wreak vengeance? I understand this phrase to explain the experience of God’s compassion coming to an end. Isaiah is telling us that eventually, after all the warnings, all the signs, all the speeches to return to God; the people’s continuing to not heed any of this will lead to their destruction. We have seen this happen throughout history. 

The outcome will be the reward of Zion. Zion in this phrase represents all of the people in the world who remained loyal to the Will of God and survived the catastrophic events of their time. These people will be rewarded with a place to live safely, physically and spiritually; in a land/world of people who renew the covenant with God and live by it.

Rabbi Heschel’s description of the Prophet as a man who has a deep love, painful rebuke, powerful dissent and unwavering hope describes Isaiah in these verses to me. Isaiah is pained by what is going on and what is going to happen and rather than staying silent, he is rebuking the people and saying NO, stop being this way. His love comes through in his hope that the people will hear the message and change their ways. 

Our politicians need to heed the words of God as well. Their willful blindness to the havoc they wreak with their Big Lies and Little Lies, their obstructionist ways of legislating and their breaking the covenant of democracy will lead us all to ruin. Yet, they persist and we keep voting them in! Whom is being dumber? Our Declaration of Independence says “we hold these truths to be self evident”, our political leaders seem to be saying “we hold the lies we tell to be truth”! We, the People must stand up for God and Truth otherwise we will participate in our ruin and the ruin of all of us. One person, one vote applies to all people in this country-not just to white men who vote for one party. 

In recovery, we have seen the ‘sword’ of God in the sky and repented. We are the people who have taken stock of the ways we turned our backs on God and caused heartbreak, sadness, death and ruination for everyone in our lives when we were not in recovery. We have “come near” to God and God’s words, teachings, and messages. We have heeded God’s call to us and returned to God, God’s Will and God’s Ways. We are the examples of the compassion and grace that God shows to all of us. We carry this message to everyone and continue to try and find ways for people to hear us. Being in recovery is the reward for our turning back to God.  Each day, we dedicate ourselves to living in God’s world rather than our selfish one, and we are graced and blessed with a day of wholeness and reward. 

In my life, I have experienced God’s ‘vengeance’ and God’s reward. In fact, it took the vengeance to wake me up to see the ‘sword’ and change. I had to almost lose everything dear to me in order to “come near and hear and heed” God’s call. I know and understand all the ways that I have not seen the ‘sword’ in the hands of others and, arrogantly, believed that I would not wounded by another human being. How foolish and stupid as well! I don’t need God to wreak vengeance on those that have harmed me anymore. I don’t need them to acknowledge their part in our mutual ruin anymore. I realize and realized that my knowing, acknowledging my part and returning to God’s Will and Ways is enough and, this is truly the reward. Where are you, heeding the call or not? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 76

“God, be gracious to us; we wait for You. Be our arm every morning, be our savior in times of trouble. Sinners in Zion are frightened…Who of us can dwell with the never-dying blaze? One who walks in righteousness, speaks uprightly, spurns profit from fraudulent dealings, waves away a bribe, stops ears from hearing bloodshed, shuts eyes against seeing evil.”(Isaiah 33:2,14,15).

In this chapter, Isaiah begins with a plea of mercy for the people. As angry as he can get at the people for their betrayals and treacheries, he also is able to have compassion and plead with God for them, hence Rabbi Heschel’s description of the prophet as a man who holds God and humans in one moment, in all moments. Isaiah’s plea is, I believe, a plea to the people to remember God for Who God is. God has been gracious, God has been waiting (and still is), and God has been and is our savior. Isaiah is the mediator, here who is reminding both sides of the commitments they made at the beginning of the relationship. 

Fear is a good thing for Isaiah, he wants the people to know that their actions have consequences. While many people say this is a mean and vengeful God in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, I disagree. There are logical consequences for our behaviors, Isaiah is saying STOP the sinning, it will bring destruction. Return to God who saved you before, who has never stopped loving you, return the love through action. Yet, then as now, few people believe they will have to experience the consequences of their behaviors.

I know that God is not vengeful and mean because Isaiah delivers to us the formula for returning and for safety. Walk righteously, no more treachery, speak truth, no more lies, deal in good faith, no more fraud, stay true to the principles, no more bribes, hear truth and kindness, no more listening to LaShon HaRa(evil/negative speech), and see what is good, no more seeing/following negativity. While this seems simple, it has been the most difficult path for people to follow for the past millennia. While we have these teachings of Isaiah, we just haven’t studied them nor followed them. How sad!

Rabbi Heschel teaches us:”Israel has forsaken the Lord, but the Lord will not forsake Israel; He will not discard them.”(The Prophets pg 88) in reference to the first verse above. The teaching here is for us to not discard even those who forsake us, a theme he reiterates in reference to the second verse above:”However the destructiveness of God’s power is not due to God’s hostility to man, but to His concern for righteousness, to His intolerance to injustice.”(ibid. pg 80). God keeps caring, God is relentless in God’s quest for righteousness and justice, which is the reason that the one who survives will be people who “walk in righteousness”. We are being called by Isaiah and Rabbi Heschel to be these people. 

Our political leaders have forsaken God, country and constituents with their lack of righteousness and their practice of injustice. Rather than looking for how to help another(s), they are looking to help themselves. There are not arguments about principles that they hold dear, only about how to either win or obstruct. Rather than be realistic about what can get done and find ways to bring We, the People, together, our politicians are concerned with getting it all done now and/or spreading the Big Lie. They are the sinners that Isaiah is speaking to, they are the ones who keep spreading evil/negative speech, they are the ones who continue to practice injustice, fraud, bribery, evil. We, the People must say NO to these actions because we will suffer the consequences before and along side of these politicians. 

In Recovery, righteousness and justice are cornerstones of our living. The new home/relation with God we build in recovery has these attributes and paths as part of the foundation. We know that we have sinned, we have experienced the “never-dying blaze” of our actions. We know the pain that bribes, fraud, negative speech, seeing and following evil brings. We know what it means to both deliver and suffer injustice. Our recovery is based in our following a path of righteousness. We continue to renew our covenant with God each day through prayer, meditation and actions. We know, through experience, that God has never forsaken us and we know we have to cleave to God as our savior and help. 

I have prayed Isaiah’s prayer often, both for community and for self. I have sought the Grace of God for the past 34+years so I could/can return to God, family, community, world. I know what the “never-dying blaze” feels like, the heat, the intensity, the fear-I have lived it more than once. Even today, when I miss the mark, the blaze returns. I now use the heat to change instead of trying to find shelter from it. I cry out to God to save me from myself at times, my indignation at injustice that gets out of proper measure. I also cry out to God to save me from people who mean to do me harm just because I am being who I am. I know that I am on the path of righteousness and have a lot of work to do! I know that cleaving to God, guides, family and friends is the path for my growth. I know that I am not a fraud, I am me. Righteousness or Betrayal-which path do you walk in? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 75

“No more shall a villain be called noble nor shall a knave be called a gentleman. For the villain speaks villainy and plots iniquity; to practice treachery… to leave the hungry unsatisfied and to deprive the thirsty of drink. Tremble you carefree ones, put cloth upon your loins. For the work of righteousness is peace and the effect of righteousness, calm and confidence forever.”(Isaiah 31:5,6,11,17).

The prophet is reminding us that mendacity will not last forever, much like Passover reminds us that slavery will end. What these two states share, I believe, is the will of us to end them. God doesn’t want mendacity-here we have another case of God not wanting what is offered when it is offered from mendacity. 

This is an age-old problem, the villain being called noble and a knave (scoundrel) being called a gentleman. People keep trying to hide behind facades and convince everyone that the facade is real. Many people believe if you live a false life long enough, you can claim you are living your script from God. I hear this in Isaiah’s words. Practicing treachery is considered a noble profession to this type of person even up to today. They constantly look to satisfy themselves and their cronies at the expense of the hungry and thirsty. 

Isaiah, however, tells them that God is still willing to accept them back. When the carefree tremble and put on sackcloth, when they are no longer hookers for other gods, other villains and knaves, when they do tshuvah and repent, God accepts them and lessens the decree. Then righteousness and justice prevail. Then we can reap the benefits of righteousness and justice: peace, wholeness, calm and confidence. We have the power to make this happen. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches us about the villain, etc. as part of our inner life, we have to remember “The Lord alone is holy. To fear God is to be unafraid of man. For God alone is king, power, promise.”(The Prophets pg 209). Rabbi Heschel is teaching us to look for the villain and knave inside of us, I believe. Rather than just point to another(s), we need to own our inner villain/knave so we cannot let it run/ruin us. This is an important distinction that few people follow-looking at someone else is easier than looking at self. Rabbi Heschel also teaches: “Reading the words of the prophets is a strain on the emotions, wrenching one’s conscience from the state of suspended animation.”(ibid pg 7). We stay in a state of suspended animation whenever we allow the villain inside of us to rule and/or someone else’s villain to rule. We need the words of the prophets to wake us up and move us to action.

These words of Isaiah describe what politicians have done throughout the millennia. We are bombarded by the mendacity of political leaders and left wanting after each election. We are, as Jane Mayer writes about, talked about by the billionaires that want to control everything, especially the political process, as if we are nothing. They are planning to use their influence to get bills that are popular with the people, including conservatives, killed by their puppets in the Senate. How disgusting, yet it is not a new playbook-it dates back to antiquity. We, the People, have to demand decency and stand up for righteousness and justice and do it now. 

In recovery, we have been the villain and the knave. We engaged in treachery, worshiping false gods and taking care of number 1, always and leaving others unsatisfied, bewildered and distressed prior to our recovery. In recovery, we place principles over personalities, we live a life of principles and of service to another(s). It is baked into our being in recovery. A life of righteousness and justice is a daily practice and, while we don’t hit the mark all day, every day, we always come back to asking ourselves: “what’s the next right action”. We are constantly seeking the path that God is calling on us to follow. We constantly seek and find a way of life that is compatible with God’s demand on us. In recovery, we began in sackcloth and now are able to wear  clothes of decency, kindness, truth, compassion. In recovery, we no longer hide behind any facade, what you see is what you get, we give love and justice and righteousness to all. 

I have, of course, been the villain described above. That was a long time ago, I am grateful to say. Yet, every time I miss the mark, I put on sackcloth and repent. While humans may not accept my tshuvah, I know God does. I have taken off the false make-up and no longer hide behind facades, because I know where they lead, to destruction and death of spirit. I know where mendacity leads and I know where righteousness and justice leads. I am calmer because of the righteousness God and other humans have shown me and the righteousness I practice and live. I don’t need alliances that are transactional and/or forged in desperation/need that are not real. I am unafraid to be me, I enjoy being me and I am willing to experience the joy and the arrows for being me. I don’t hide my generosity, my truth, my caring, my sense of justice, nor my anger at injustice anymore. What you see is what you get. When will you stop engaging in mendacity, cheating others of their due all the while making it look like you are being so kind and generous? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark