Picture this. You are on a glorious hike with verdant hills behind you, a golden meadow in front of you. You look down and you see a piece of trash. Litter, gasp. So what do you see? Do you see careless teens that care not about the beauty of nature? Have you judged other groups of people, or perhaps children with parents who cannot adequately supervise them? Or perhaps what you see is a society with twisted capitalism that creates too many disposable materials. Or perhaps, you see nothing at all.
Maybe what you see is a G-d-given opportunity to make this world a more beautiful place by picking up the litter and throwing it away.
What we see is intrinsically connected to what we believe. Our beliefs greatly influence what we see. In this week's Torah portion, Re’eh, we are given the ultimate vision challenge. “See, I give to you this day a blessing and a curse. (Deut. 11:26)
Every situation is G-d-given, and we have a choice to make. This very choice is a gift that is granted to us by the Infinite Oneness of existence. This belief transforms our life; it transforms what we see, what we perceive, and thus it shifts our purpose. I
As the verse continues, “The blessing, if you obey the commandments of the L-rd your G-d, which I command you this day. The curse, if you will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known.” (Deut. 11:27-28)
The sacred Mitzvot are a pathway to understand that everything, every situation in life is intrinsically connected to my purpose. Our belief compels us to see every situation as an opportunity to improve myself, or to improve the situation. Through the Mitzvah path, we are granted the ability to weave our life into the Oneness of All.
Or, we can turn to the other gods. What other gods mean is that we shift the responsibility to a different entity. We do not take any personal responsibility, there's nothing here that is connected to me, “the gods have willed it.” It is the ultimate form of removing any responsibility, accountability, and thus purpose from our own life. “Other gods” are the source of division, discord, and strife.
The choice that we are granted is a profound gift. Through these verses of the Torah, we are empowered to see the potential blessing in life, and to draw this Light into the reality of the world.
Blesssing and curse in all that we see