Friday, December 5, 2008

Derech Hashem/The Way Of God III

Derech Hashem/Ramchal

Ramchal: The purpose of all that was created was therefore to bring into existence a creature who could derive pleasure from God's own good, in a way that would be possible for it.

MH: Everyone is looking for True Good. This is a clue that everyone is really looking for God. Even though the physical pulls at us, there is a differing percentage of desire for good in every one of us. The extent of our merit (talk is cheap actions speak louder than words) is weighed by the distance we pull away from physical desire.

Some examples: Take a cantankerous person. This person may just seem like a miserable person happy to be unhappy. If he happens to run into a truly loving person with no guile, just the ability to love the people he meets, even the cantankerous can feel True Good.

Take a thief. There was a story I heard, I think it was Rabbi Tatz. He had been in a market when theives entered with guns and robbed everyone. This is the tsk, before he robbed Rabbi Tatz he said "forgive me father." There was a glimmer in the thief.

God gives us the opportunity to attach ourselves to Him. This is D'vakus and the spectrum is huge. The above thief had attached, but in a very limited way. I spend every waking moment thinking about Hashem, but I will also see how limited that attachment is, and how it as grown closer throughout my life.

RamChal: The purpose of all that was created was therefore to bring into existence a creature who could derive pleasure from God's own good, in a way that would be possible for it.

MH: The last week has been a bit scary. It worked out to a great degree, but the whole time I refused to allow myself deep fear. Why? I said over and over, that Hashem is the Conductor and Arranger of this life of mine. I knew deeply that out of it would come a courage so embedded with True Good, a refinement, that the result would be far better than the challenge.

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