By Rabbi Daniel Lichman
This High Holy Day season Rabbi Daniel is sharing a series of reflections with us. Here is the fifth in the series...
Get out the way and let Life flow
The call:
On this special Shabbat of return, the prophet calls out:
Return, O Israel, to YHVH your G!d,
For you have fallen because of your sin.
Hosea 14:2
The prophet goes on, Teshuvah/Return means to: Never again call our handiwork our g!d (Hosea 14:4).
With these words the prophet understands that it is ‘sin’ to think that we are the creator. ‘Sin’ is to get in the way of the flow of Life.
Life:
The achievements; success; gains; creations! She was so proud of herself.
No, says the prophet, never again will we call our handiwork our g!d, it was not you. It is not yours.
Instead the prophet celebrates: Well done for allowing the Lifeforce to flow through you; well done for letting go of the barriers that blocked creativity; well done for leading people to contribute together to success; well done for acting purposefully.
And then she is on the floor in gratitude uttering: thank you, Source of Love, for the grace which allows me to be your actor in the world.
Practice:
Attentive to moments of striving for success: can you let go of the suffering in striving, and allow Life to simply express itself through your gifts and talents?
Attentive to moments of pride: can you lower your body and lift your soul in recognition of the Source of All Things who was expressed through your actions?
I will be to Israel like dew;
They shall blossom like the lily,
They shall strike root like a cedar tree
Their boughs shall spread out far,
Their beauty shall be like the olive tree’s.
Their fragrance like that of Lebanon.
They who sit in his shade shall be revived:
They shall bring to life new grain,
They shall blossom like the vine;
His scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon
He shall say:
‘What more have I to do with idols?
When I respond and look to the Source of Love,
I become like verdant cypress.’
Your fruit is provided by the Source of Love.
Hosea 14:7-9
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