High-minded thinking doesn’t come easy.
As human beings, our psychological default position is self-interest. From the moment we awake in the morning, we see the world through the lens of "I"; my desires, fears, and challenges.
That's point A.
Consider point B to be a place of other-centeredness, transcendence of the instinctive "I" and connectedness with the Divine.
Hence life's central question: How do we move from point A to point B? How do we elevate our lives?
Jewish thought tells us that G-d gives us a ladder – prayer – through which we can transition to a better place.
And the climb begins from the day’s first flicker of consciousness. When we first open our eyes in the morning, as we begin to adjust our senses to the world around us, we take a moment to offer a brief prayer: “I offer thanks to You, living and eternal King, for You have mercifully restored my soul within me; great is Your trustworthiness.”
So, even before we sit up in bed, we bring to mind a sense of gratitude for the blessing of a new day, irrespective of what lies ahead.
But beyond thanks, this prayer is about acknowledgment.
When one recites this prayer, one recognizes that life is a gift from G-d, and that the day ahead needs to be aligned with G-d’s intent in granting us this day.
When I recite the prayer, I am acknowledging that my day needs to be guided by a consistent barometer: How does G-d want me to act/respond/choose?
Now, when I first wake up in the morning, I’m not in an intellectual place; I don’t say this prayer with theological gravitas.
I say it because I believe it. And faith isn’t a matter of intellectual complexity, it’s a matter of spiritual purity; it comes from “the child within.”
So every morning, this acknowledgment of G-d’s presence in my life is an initial mini-step on the ladder of transcendence.
We have just entered the month of Elul, when we search for connectedness in advance of the High Holidays.
Step one lies in the recognition, the acknowledgement, that the world doesn’t revolve around me, but around my Divine Purpose. Recognizing that I’m here for a reason, that I need Something Higher in my life, and that my soul yearns for It.
In Scriptural words: “I am to my Beloved….”
And so the climb begins…..