Peace of Mind

I Samuel – the song of Hannah

2:3 Do not abound in speaking arrogance upon arrogance,

Let not haughtiness come from your mouth;

For Hashem is the God of thoughts, and men’s deeds are accounted by Him.

2:9 He guards the steps of his devout ones, but the wicked are stilled in darkness;

For not through strength does man prevail.

 Arrogance upon arrogance – I get thrown in with all sorts of important, rich people, who tell me how they are uncomfortable with this or that aspect of Torah – too much violence, use of male gender,  being commanded by the male authority – personally I would take a back seat any time, let Barack go and fight Sisera while I write my blog, God bless him!

Arrogance upon arrogance – they pick and choose the kind of spirituality that fits their personality and lifestyle, as if it is a spa package to fit the type of skin and budget. 

Their big argument is that Torah values are historical, suited for the old agrarian society, but not applicable in today’s modern world, driven by information based, knowledge economy.  God of thoughts is only relevant to farmers? 

In today’s economy the livelihood of a professional is 100% dependent on their state of mind!  And who controls the state of mind?  How do you achieve the peaceful state of mind, open to creativity, how do you obtain grace in the eyes of others, how do you acquire eloquence of speech, confidence of bearing?  Who plants thoughts in your mind, who gives ability to think?  All of these factors essential to creative labor are directly dependent on the human connection to the source of all mental energy, on having the unblocked channel to the ocean of thought.  A creative man does not have nature as an intermediary between him and God, his life, productivity and well-being come directly from God. 

They come to learn spirituality with the goal to achieve peace of mind, inner balance.  Torah does not give peace of mind to the living person, there is no balance in the world where the main requirement is to love and seek God with all you heart and all your soul – this brings not balance, but obsession, fire, it turns on the light, it revives the dead and brings life.