I came home from an amazing Yom Kippur
service to find an article by Rabbi Daniel Lappin
in my in-box. It was just what I needed to hear.
Change is hard and can be scary. It is much easier
to stay where we are, physically, spiritually, or
emotionally then to move on. A friend once said
even doing nothing is a choice and in truth may
be much harder and perhaps even more painful.
As we have read all month beloved in Psalm 27
G*d is our light and our salvation whom shall
we fear. May the life giving sweetness that we
received on Yom Kippur spurn us on to reach
even higher levels this New Year~Elisheva
Physical = Spiritual ~based on a teaching by Rabbi Daniel Lappin
An experienced adult with nerves of steel can quickly whip out a tablecloth from beneath expensive china place settings without doing any damage. They would be relying on Isaac Newton's first law of motion which says that objects tend to keep doing whatever they were doing. If they are at rest, they stay at rest unless some force makes them move. If they are moving, they tend to keep moving unless some force makes them stop. Being at rest, the plates initially resist the tablecloth's impetus to move. Newton broke this important news to the world in 1687.
As a deeply fervent Bible-believer, Newton would not have been baffled to hear that physical laws have spiritual equivalents. Just as objects like plates tend to keep doing exactly what they are doing, so do human beings. Whatever life habits we've fallen into, either good or bad, we tend to just keep on doing them.
It is possible to obey Newton's first law of spiritual motion and do the right thing by walking with G*d. However G*d expects more from us. Remember, Noah righteously walked with G*d. (Genesis 6:9).
However, Scripture qualifies his praise by indicating that he was perfect only in the context of his evil generation. In contrast Abraham walked not with G*d, but before G*d....G*d in front of whom I have walked...(Genesis 24:40). Abraham was willing to walk ahead of G*D and take responsibility for changing the direction of his life. Ancient Jewish wisdom tells us that at age three, Abraham began searching for the Source of all. He resisted the prevalent thinking of his time and set out in search of the truth.
Even those who already recognize the Source would do well to emulate Abraham. Leave those familiar things that anchor you to behavior patterns that inhibit your potential for growth. Carefully examine your life for instances where you might be missing out on exciting possibilities by walking only with G*D instead of like Abraham, walking before G*d.
This brings us to Newton's second law of motion which says that any object that has a force applied to it not only moves but also picks up speed. As with the first, this law also has a spiritual equivalent. When we take the initiative by walking ahead of G*d, guided by the mitzvot in His Torah, His force will not only move us to marvelous new opportunities but it will accelerate us towards them at an ever increasing speed. We just need to start the process by removing those anchors in our lives that prevent us from exploring desirable change. Studying G*D's Torah and the wisdom that lies therein will improve your life and provide the impetus for growth, propelling you to walk before G*D with all the possibilities for exciting change that it involves.
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