When I reflect on myself and my role in the world, the word 'merchant' doesn't come to mind. But it should, at least in the spiritual sense.
Chassidic thought teaches that life, our daily decisions and challenges, are all a form of 'Divine Commerce.’ Trade is the exchange of goods and commodities. When I buy something, it comes into my possession, and when I sell something I transfer ownership to someone else. That truth of basic business is also a framework for life.
We can each segment our lives into two basic domains: the meaningful and the less-than-meaningful. Each of our experiences in the course of a day automatically will seem to find a place in one category or the other. But we can actually move things from one domain to the other, engaging in ‘trade,’ as it were.
Let’s take a simple example: I’m busy, and a family member is calling my cell about something I consider less-than-important. The impending conversation may not be monumental, but our relationship is. So, I should see this 'mundane moment' as an opportunity for 'relationship-building'. I have an opportunity to transfer something in my life from the mundane category to the meaningful one.
I may still choose to defer the specific conversation until later. But I’ll be doing so from a healthy and respectful position. And If I genuinely consider the conversation as meaningful, the other person will too.
So, using 'commercial' language, we can actually procure slices of life from the trivial domain, and transfer them into the dominion of the meaningful.
This also applies to my relationship with the Divine.
If I eat a bowl of vegetable soup for lunch today, that’s relatively trivial. But does it need to be?
What if I first thank my Creator for this incredible life and the food I'm about to eat? What if I'm conscious of my need to make a difference in the world, and my need for nutrition as fuel? Is it still just a mundane bowl of soup?
If I'm mindful and focused, I can transfer my lunch from the mundane to the meaningful; the bowl of soup becomes a tool in my life’s mission. When I take a situation and infuse it with meaning, I'm ‘acquiring’ it for the Divine.
Spiritual commerce.
In the Torah, and in our Amidah liturgy, G-d is referred to as (if we translate the words literally) "the Purchaser of all things” (‘Koneh Hakol’). G-d gave us a world that seems disconnected from meaning, out of His 'domain'. Our job is to 'buy it back.’
And our acquired assets pay guaranteed dividends: The inner peace that comes with living a Purposeful Life.