“I knew not my soul, that my soul set me as chariots of
my people, Nadib.” (6:12)
Israel answers to God's inquiries by admitting that in
her long and dark exile she became alienated and assimilated enough to
disregard her own soul. In exile, Israel has been prone to lose the awareness
of her essence and true identity. Instead of assuming responsibility for her
separation from God's ways and attributes, and the consequences of her negative
choices, Israel blames Him for her predicament under the nations.
As we allow ego’s fantasies and illusions, these become
the rulers of our free will. In this predicament we become vulnerable to others
controlled by negative traits and trends. Our total freedom is in love’s ways
and attributes, with which we are full and without lack. Thus we make them the
rulers to bring the blessings God’s love wants us to enjoy in the material
world and in all expressions of life.
We must be aware that we also can bless ourselves in
order to be the blessing we want to be in order to be a blessing for others.
Our thoughts, speech and actions have the potential to reflect our blessings or
curses. Negative traits and trends are indeed curses that turn our self into evil
for us and for others. Curses not only come from others or our midst, but also
from our self. Thus we understand king David’s warning.
“The idols of the nations
are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not; eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not;
neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them shall become
like them; yea, everyone that trust in them.” (Psalms 135:15-18)
The idols as ego’s fantasies and illusions with their
negative trends are the curses we bring to our self, that rule and control our
thoughts, emotions, feelings, passion and instinct. As they turn us into them,
we become either the epitome of lust, envy, coveting, wrath, haughtiness,
indifference or indolence, among other cursing traits. Thus we realize that the
blessings of love’s ways and attributes elevate us, while the curses of
negative traits and trends keep us trapped in the shallowness and futility of
ego’s fantasies and illusions.
We must be constantly bonding with goodness in order to
allow the blessings flow in us, for us and for others, and fulfilling our
soul’s purpose to make goodness prevail in human life and the material world.
We maintain this constant flow by being and doing goodness, allowing our self
to be its vessel and channel in the awareness that goodness comes from God’s
love. Thus we understand that the cause of His creation is goodness, and the
purpose and end of His creation is goodness, as it is written.
“Everything the Lord has made [is] for His sake.”
(Proverbs 16:4)
“And God saw everything
that He made; and behold, very good.” (Genesis 1:31)
“(...) may the Lord rejoice in His works.” (Psalms 104:31)
Goodness indeed rejoices in goodness. As we have
mentioned often, our total fulfillment in every aspect of life is complete only
by the goodness that emanates from God’s love. We achieve this with our
constant desire for goodness by bonding with His loving goodness.
“(…) You [God] open Your hand and satisfy the wanton of
every living thing.” (Ibid. 145:16)
“The Lord wants those who revere Him, they who desire His
loving kindness.” (Ibid 147:11)
Thus we also realize the transcendence of goodness, which
makes it perfect.
“Everyone called [created] in My Name, and whom I have
created for My honor [goodness], I have created him, I have shaped [perfected]
Him.” (Isaiah 43:7)
Materialistic fantasies and illusions tamper the
awareness of our essence and true identity, while love’s ways provide us the
clarity to elevate our consciousness to higher realms where we are able to
reveal God’s concealed presence. Prior to our journey to fully know God’s ways
and attributes, we must know our own. Only then we can realize the strength of
our awareness of love, the weaknesses of our fears and feelings of lack; the
creative potentials to bring and manifest goodness in what we are and do, and
the limitations of negative ideas, emotions and feelings.
Thus we learn what brings us closer to our Creator is
goodness, and what separates us from Him is anything that is not good. Then we
begin the journey to refine our consciousness and body by eliminating and
avoiding negative traits; redirecting our basic drives, trends and creative
potentials; and strengthening our positive qualities to guide all expressions
of life.
This self-refinement process is indeed the premise to
approach God’s ways and attributes, for as we have said, only through goodness
we can bond with Him. Hence we engage in the knowledge of our self as goodness
and inherently separated from anything different from goodness.
We must see our self as the soul that looks for its place
in human life and this place is goodness, for goodness is from which the soul
comes and its only reference to approach the material world. Thus we realize
that the purpose of the soul is to find goodness as the place it knows before
entering human consciousness.
Evidently, the material world is not suited for the loftiness
of the soul, yet it looks forward to make the physical realm a reflection of
the soul realm. Therefore we as the soul have to pursue goodness always and in
all ways. Thus we assimilate that “the ways of the world are His” (Habakkuk
3:6), for all of them are the ways of His goodness. The soul finds its ways in
the ways and attributes of its Creator, for which it is destined in the world.
“Certainly there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the
Almighty gives them understanding.” (Job 32:8)
As we have indicated, the soul as pure intellect begins
this process analyzing the nature of human consciousness by knowing the
dynamics of positive and negative traits, and their expressions and effects;
and selecting those that are compatible and inherent to the soul. It does so in
every level of consciousness, from the mind and thoughts through emotions and
feelings, passions and instincts, by separating from them anything opposite to
goodness and love’s ways and attributes.
We must be as practical, empirical and pragmatic as we
can be, in order to learn from the goodness of positive traits and actions, as
well as their opposites. Thus we can effectively execute change in our
consciousness and surroundings, unless we bind ourselves to the repetitive
vicious circles of obsessions, attachments and addictions to destructive ideas,
thoughts, emotions and feelings.
The soul is actually the one that directs the refinement
of human consciousness towards its goal to bond permanently with the Creator,
while dwelling in the world. We must not allow the soul as our essence and true
identity be trapped in the negative ways and trends of ego’s fantasies and
illusions, for these are not its place.
The soul gives us the intellect and its discernment to
remove them completely in order to allow it manifest its divine origin and
qualities, as extensions of God’s love. This is one of the meanings of Israel’s
mission to build a place for God to dwell in our midst.
Israel
recognizes before God (called here Nadib, Benefactor) her choice to falling
into negative traits and trends. This falling (represented by her exile among
the nations) turned into vassals (“chariots”) His people.
