Stop Buying In. Start Choosing Life.

By Rabbi Mark Borovitz

We have choices each day, each moment, etc. and I am always in wonder as to the ways we make choices. I am thinking about this in relation to my life, current events and the story of Abraham. We are not Tabla Rasa, blank slates. We are each made up of our experiences, our natures, our spirits, our environment and our beliefs. This is why Redemption and T’Shuvah are so important in our living well.

The choices I make, at times, are repeats of old choices. This is dangerous! The reason it is dangerous is because I do this on auto pilot. I am not in the moment; I am reacting as I have in the past and this traps me in old experiences rather than being alive and present in this moment. I see this happen with many people, I see this happen with our government, I see this happen in Israel. These actions deny the Truth of Redemption and Change.

We are so caught up with our own insecurities and fears that we live there rather than in wonder, awe and new possibilities. Yet, we celebrate the people who are innovators! What a conundrum. Most people are trapped in their old circumstances and ways of being. The stories we celebrate though, are the ones like Abraham who left everything he knew to follow the commands and direction of his soul and God. Where is the disconnect?

I think it is because we buy old lies. Anything that happened yesterday that we are still reacting to and living in today or tomorrow is a lie that we tell ourselves. The lie is: same shit, different day!

Redemption and Change teach us that today is new and pregnant with new possibilities and opportunities. We have choices each day to live in the past and/or to live in the moment. Let's all CHOOSE LIFE! Let's choose new opportunities. Let's choose new ways of responding to today's possibilities. Then we can all become Addicted to Redemption.