The 49th day of the Counting of the Omer begins on Monday night. Tonight we count seven weeks of the Omer, the last day of the counting. Tuesday night will begin Shavuot.
This is the day of Malchut within Malchut, nobility within nobility. Today, after walking through the previous 48 gates of paired qualities, I think about the big picture of my life. What, ultimately, makes my life worthwhile, meaningful and noble?
Each of us lives a life that is a paradox. We are all stuck inside of our own heads, never being able to experience life from any vantage other than through our own eyes, ears, memories and brains. We never really get to see the world directly through the experiences of another person. Yet, we also recognize that to live only for ourselves is not really any life at all. Without ever being able to be anyone else, we have to live our lives for the benefit of the strangers who live behind eyes we will never get to see through.
This is what can make our lives noble. For me, the great leap of faith is not the leap of believing in a supernatural God high above us. For me, the leap is believing that, by living for others, we can stretch our existence beyond the limitations of being stuck in our own minds. We become truly and deeply noble when we give away our lives – the greatest gift anyone has ever received – and commit them to the service of others.
When we do that, we become champions and heroes. When we live unselfish and giving lives, we overcome our inborn instinct to gather up everything we can and keep it all for ourselves. We transcend the desire to withdraw into the familiarity of our own egos. We lift ourselves beyond the limitations that physics and biology have decreed upon us, and we become the champions of our own lives.
On this final day of the Counting of the Omer, I commit to living my life as if it matters beyond myself. I commit to living as if the whole world depends upon my ability to see beyond my own narrow needs and interests. In a way, the world does depend upon it. In a way, the world depends upon all of us living that way.
May this be a day for you in which you become the champion of your own life.
For the introduction to the Counting of the Omer, click on this link:
The First Day of the Counting of the Omer
This is the day of Malchut within Malchut, nobility within nobility. Today, after walking through the previous 48 gates of paired qualities, I think about the big picture of my life. What, ultimately, makes my life worthwhile, meaningful and noble?
Each of us lives a life that is a paradox. We are all stuck inside of our own heads, never being able to experience life from any vantage other than through our own eyes, ears, memories and brains. We never really get to see the world directly through the experiences of another person. Yet, we also recognize that to live only for ourselves is not really any life at all. Without ever being able to be anyone else, we have to live our lives for the benefit of the strangers who live behind eyes we will never get to see through.
This is what can make our lives noble. For me, the great leap of faith is not the leap of believing in a supernatural God high above us. For me, the leap is believing that, by living for others, we can stretch our existence beyond the limitations of being stuck in our own minds. We become truly and deeply noble when we give away our lives – the greatest gift anyone has ever received – and commit them to the service of others.
When we do that, we become champions and heroes. When we live unselfish and giving lives, we overcome our inborn instinct to gather up everything we can and keep it all for ourselves. We transcend the desire to withdraw into the familiarity of our own egos. We lift ourselves beyond the limitations that physics and biology have decreed upon us, and we become the champions of our own lives.
On this final day of the Counting of the Omer, I commit to living my life as if it matters beyond myself. I commit to living as if the whole world depends upon my ability to see beyond my own narrow needs and interests. In a way, the world does depend upon it. In a way, the world depends upon all of us living that way.
May this be a day for you in which you become the champion of your own life.
For the introduction to the Counting of the Omer, click on this link:
The First Day of the Counting of the Omer
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