Treating the other guy as more important than myself….

This may be difficult to read … My thoughts are so fragmented.  But a few hours ago they were very pleasing and reassuring ... focused, even.   We had just returned from a quiet getaway that was restorative to my mental and spiritual health.  This is a very busy year.  I seized an opportunity to reflect on Torah, my life, my family, friends and many other entities.  It was fantastic.  Prior to taking this journey, I asked my Father to please be with my wife and me to enable us to have some quiet time and just relax and be.  He was very loving. We did. Then the time to return home came.  And the usual stuff went through my head about what I had to do; what I had to catch up on; who I needed to touch base with, and what surprises might await me.  You know, the usual. However, the nagging stream of thought that kept at me and has driven me to post this blog is simply this: I feel inadequate to properly spread the Good News.  My tolerance level for my own self has become minimal.  But when I examine that thought, I negate it.  In my mind it may be real, but in my heart it is an invalid repudiation.

    This all stems from my judgmental thoughts on the ridiculousness of some of the explanations people have for violating Torah.  To avoid a lengthy dissertation, example after example, let me minimize it to say…. the majority of people that I have met that violate Torah are so self-important; they are determined to show how powerful and knowledgeable they are.  Go ahead; give me the lecture on being judgmental. Just keep in mind, we are encouraged to judge inside the camp and not be overly concerned about outside the camp.  If we don’t confront what is not kosher inside the camp, the camp can fall apart.

    In my opinion, when a person is living the very basic first steps of Torah, that person takes the commandment to “have no other Gods before me” and  “love your neighbor as yourself” to heart.  These are the two commandments that get us started.  They give us assurance that someone greater than ourselves is looking out for us and asks that we look out for our neighbors and not put ourselves first.  This is a tough thing to do if we are trying so show everyone how Scripturally intelligent we are. That is just the part about having no other gods before Him.  He said “before Me”… like in my face before Me… like obstructing your view of me ... like don’t turn to Me second; turn to Me first…. like “don’t do it your own way because you know better than Me.  When all else fails, do we then ask Him what went wrong?… or where was He?   When we get past this little obstacle, then we must deal with our injured pride… and we try to hide from or ignore our neighbor…ie. our brother, our friend, our fellow worshiper.  Oh, remember the part about love your neighbor as yourself? Escapism occurs when we skip the coming together on Shabbat.  Which means no fellowship before, during or after service.  Historically, human behavior reveals the longer we are able to avoid something, the more difficult it is to face it head on.  So, the longer we stay away from worshiping together, the easier staying away becomes. Psalm 18:1 says:  He who separates himself indulges his desires and shows contempt for sound advice of any kind. 

    Soon we have a tough situation on our hands.  We want to be there but other events become more important.  We become more important than the other guy.  When the ‘other guy’ is YHVH we run out of excuses. Treating the other guy as more important than myself must always be paramount in my mind and heart.  When I am able to do this, there will be no need for ridiculous explanations I may have for violating Torah.  This will help me ensure that I never have any other god but YHVH Elohim. 

Shalom

Pinchas,  a/k/a Frankly Speaking