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For it is the backsliding of the ignorant that kills them Here is a question for you all to ponder. How many times must you beat a dead horse in order for it to get the message to come alive again? If any of you have the answer to this, please let me know; for as long as I have tried to teach wisdom to the foolish, I feel I stand a better chance at resurrecting a dead horse by beating it with a stick. Sometimes, some individuals are so stubborn and so wayward in their thinking and behavior that no amount of effort seems to work to teach them necessary life skills to make themselves better human beings. We all look out at the world and see the injustices that surround us daily. We all feel that there is so much wrong in the world with no apparent way to make it all right. Granted, the extremists among us all have answers. They believe that world peace can be achieved and that everything can be made perfect once we destroy out of the world all who do not fit into their individual narrow views of perfection. This leaves most of us on someone’s list of destruction. What a shame and waste it is that the only way some people can imagine human perfection is by the destruction of all others who are different from themselves. In the end, it is usually the extremists who bring down upon their own heads the destruction they seek to place upon others. Many of us who are religious look to Heaven and pray for the answers to all our human problems. Little do we realize that at the same time we are looking to Heaven for the answers, Heaven is in turn looking down upon us and waiting for us to solve our own problems, using the wisdom that Heaven has already provided us. Like wise and watchful spiritual parents, Heaven’s desire is for us human beings to grow up and mature; to learn how to deal with our own problems instead of having Heaven come intervene every time. When Heaven intervenes, we are thankful, true, however, we are not left any wiser. Only when we learn to solve our own problems do we truly learn wisdom and at the same time properly please Heaven with our maturity and responsible behavior. For us to do the right thing, for this Heaven waits. The way Heaven punishes us is by refusing to get involved. When we turn our backs on Heaven, Heaven, in a way, turns its back on us. Heaven declares that if humanity is so smart without Divine direction, then humanity can extricate itself from its own problems. Heaven views this true on both the individual and collective nature. Both, an individual and society in whole, that wishes to receive the spiritual abundance that Heaven can provide, must first as a prerequisite accept upon oneself to follow Heaven’s directives. When one follows the ways of Heaven, one can be guided along the roads of peace and security. However, when one wishes to follow one’s own directions, without the foresight and wisdom from Above, then one will end up in whatever place that one’s lack of clear vision has directed one to. Understanding life is this simple. Live by wisdom and you will be guided wisely. Live by foolishness and foolishness will be your guide. Live by wisdom, end up with the goodness wisdom can provide. Live by foolishness and end up with the dissatisfaction and emptiness that foolishness provides. In the end, the truth of everything becomes apparent. Those who lack discipline and choose to follow their desires instead of what they know to be right and true, may indeed succeed in fulfilling their desires. Yet, in the end, they will find their desires can never be completely fulfilled. Like an addict for pleasure, one will be driven from pursuit after pursuit, seeking ever more unfulfilling desires, until in the end, one is left bankrupt and bereft. This is the path of the fool. How many of us today have a bit of foolishness within us? Words are many. Talk is cheap. Opinions are like hands, everybody has two, and seldom do they agree. People today are confused. They have not sense of purpose, no sense of loyalty, no sense of direction. Lost and asleep, this describes most people today. And we wonder whether or not our world can possibly become a better place? Maybe if we could wake up the sleepers and provide directions to the lost, maybe then we could change the world? Then again, as I asked when I began, how long does it take to beat a dead horse back to life? While I do believe in miracle, we have been taught not to rely on them. What then? Only you can decide that for yourselves.
Comments? Questions?
Yeshivat Lev Torah -
Collel Benei N'vi'im |
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