We each have blessings in our lives.
But it’s often difficult to recognize our good; if only because the stress consumes so much of our brain space.
We have real beauty to appreciate, yet sparks of angst obscure our vision. That’s why it’s so important to take some time every day to refocus our attention and recognize life's good.
Prayer is one such opportunity; it can take a few points off your blood pressure.
But let’s follow this prayer trajectory a bit further.
Imagine that you’re praying and are now able to see your world more clearly. You’ve begun to perceive and appreciate your blessings. You’re able to visualize how you can effectively respond to your challenges, while maintaining your spiritual integrity.
From that rarefied ‘prayer perch’, your world makes sense; life actually looks pretty good.
So why does our prayer liturgy - thrice daily – also guide us to yearn for Moshiach, for an era without pain, without moral dilemmas and without tests of faith?
If life is good, and rising above my struggles - maintaining soul-consciousness even as I'm engaged in a shallow world - is actually an exercise in character development, why should I be desperate for Moshiach?
All things considered, what am I missing?
G-d is the ultimate good, and G-d is in control of the world. That being the case, we have every reason to hope for – and to anticipate – a world of total connectedness and balance, a world that is pain-free and without tragedy. Feeling Oneness with the Divine and with each other shouldn’t be a struggle; it should be a given.
So while we should be happy with life, we should never be complacent. Our world CAN be better and we need to keep an eye on a better future.
As long as there is pain, disunity and lack of higher consciousness in the world, we can’t rest on our laurels.
So every day, my prayers guide me to appreciate my life, and then guide me to recognize that my world can be so much better, and that I can – and must - actually bring it to that better place.
Starting now.
Mendy wrote...
One of his instructions is to Joseph, then the viceroy of Egypt with the power to implement functional needs.
He tells Joseph "please don't bury me in Egypt"; take me home to Israel for burial.
Joseph immediately says that he'll take care of it.
Jacob follows up with a request for Joseph to swear that he'll follow through.
Why? WHy is Joesph's commitment not enough, so that he needs to take an oath on the matter?
Another interesting point. Jacob makes it clear that he doesn't burial in Egypt at all, even on a temporary basis.
Later on, when Joseph dies, he too asks the Jewish people to make sure he's buried in Israel. But he says "when you LEAVE EGYPT, take me with you". In otehr words, he was buried in Egypt a for a couple hundred years, and that was okay. He just wanted his final destination to be Israel.
Why the difference?
THe Rebbe once explained this, and I'll atttempt to put it forth in a nutshell:
Jacob was someone who stood above the 'Egypt' element of the world. He lived a 'Moshiach'/purely Divine life. He couldn't stand to be buried in Egypt at all.
Joseph on the other hand, is an emblem for being able to maintain spiritual integrity while IN Egypt. He's an in inspiration for generations in that regard.
As such, he was okay with the temporary burial in Egypt.
Jacob understood that Joseph pereceived the spiritual beauty of what he was accomplishing withthis perfect spiritual/moral integration with Egyptian society. And Joseph was correct! It was spiritually beautiful!
Yet Jacob was sending a message that even Josepf ultimately needs to do better. Egypt is just a way station and ultimately we look for something more One.
So Jacob wanted to:
A. Make sure that Joseph felt bound to bury him in Israel, notwithstanding the spiritual beauty being accessed in Egypt.
B. to create a link with a higher place. Joseph, for the rest of his life, always knew that his ultimate destination was Israel, to be withhis father. At the height of the 'good times' in Egypt, he knew that his aspirations took him higher - because Jacob was there
Tray wrote...