Wednesday, 2 July, 2003

The opening text will come from a book by Abraham Joshua Heschel (God in Search of Man - A Philosophy of Judaism). As you are able to see by the title, the language may be a bit dated and therefore, I will, when able, make the language inclusive.



This devotion picks up from the selection from yesterday that spoke of oneness and love being an ultimate idea/standard for religious insight.

If a thought generates pride, separation from other people’s suffering, unawareness of the dangers of evil – we know it is a deviation from (God’s) way.

An insight is not meaningful to one (person) unless it is capable of becoming meaningful to all (people).

Only that which is good for all…is good for every person. No one is truly inspired for (one’s) own sake. (One) who is blessed, is blessed for others.



That journey toward oneness…toward love of all – is not easy. Nor do we seek it readily. For when we attempt to walk such a path there is much we must leave behind and that which we must leave behind is the kind of stuff we may have worked so hard to get for ourselves. And that is the point. So much of what we do or have is for us or for our kind or our people, etc. Religious insight hands us a vulnerable way of life that may not keep our lives as we want them. But then, it also hands us the Reign of God eternally.



Connection: Within the dialogues of our day when we listen well and share openly, we are often in the presence of many insights that will pull us into acts and lives of love. Then again, we can be so preoccupied with “me” and “mine” and “how I want it” that we lose out on the oneness that is simply quite awe-filled. For too often we are consumed by ourselves and cannot see the grand banquet our God sets for us in the presence of all God’s people.



Compassionate Lord, you call us to be your children and you tell us to love one another. It all seems so simple and yet we too easily turn our backs to your call and go our own way – alone. Inspire us to be vulnerable and available with one another so that we may see the power of your ways. Amen.