yetzer hara misnomer

Evil Inclination

Something sound off?
Am I the only one perplexed at this strange juxtaposition?

EVIL is such an absolute term. We think of the most vile people associated with the word evil.
And there's inclination...y'know kinda inclined this way..could go the other way...

Sounds like..
Hitler was really on the fence with what to do about the Jews, but at the end he was inclined to gas them.

I mean I would think reclined would make more sense than inclined.

So perhaps we should change it to "mischievous inclination"..or something like that.


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Teens and the elderly. Freedom and consequences.

A person is a person because he has what no other creature on earth has, and that's freedom.
Freedom of choice.
It's what sets us apart from the millions of other organisms in the world.

But..there's a flip side to freedom.

Consequences.

It's what makes this freedom to choose fraught with anxiety. The idea of owning up to and being bound by our choices.

Mrs. O'Learys cow is on no ones list of evil figures for starting the Great Chicago Fire. But humans can make one bad choice and live with the consequences forever.
Much like Raskolnikov in Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment who is tortured by how to react and live with one fateful act that he committed.

I think what's needed is a perfect balance of freedom along with a healthy dose of awareness to responsibility of our actions. A comprehensive understanding of the choice, freedom and consequences before actually acting on the choice makes you "own" the choice.

The reason why Crime and Punishment ends so beautifully is because the young couple has something to look forward to after his 7 years of incarceration..freedom. Balance.

I find it very interesting that the 2 groups that we find having the hardest time adapting and being happy are teens and the elderly.

Interestingly enough, human beings are the only known animal to have this phenomena of adolescence to begin with. All other animals go straight from childhood to adulthood.

Teens and the elderly represent the 2 flip sides of the same coin.
Freedom and Consequences.

Teens are full of newly obtained freedom but haven't yet experienced enough life to internalize the concept of consequence which throws everything off balance. So they act and choose without truly "owning" their choices and actions.
While the elderly on the other hand are rapidly losing their freedoms while at the same time can just sit there and reflect on consequences born of a lifetime of choices and deeds.

And then there are addicts that lose their ability to choose altogether, thus their basic human trait.

Just a thought.



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a moment in time

What is
...a moment in time?
does it move?
(toward us like a gentle breeze...and pass)

...or do we have to bring it in?
(like a gaze from someone we love)

does it even...exist?
..or does it
......just support
whatever happens
...to be happening
.........................then
(like hands holding a coffin aloft)

How many moments go
.....unfelt
unused
.......untouched
?

until..we're gasping
....grasping
at the final ones floating

........away


One thing is certain about these elusive things..
called moments
.....it is the only way to access
your soul...
....your life




As The Virgin Queen with her dying words did sayeth..

"All my possessions.....for a..
.....moment in time"



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Hallel

Thank G-d for Rosh Chodesh, we get to say Hallel at least once a month to tide us over from Yom Tov to Yom Tov..

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crazy adult world

With a little baby around the house I've had time to observe what the world must look like from a newborn's eyes and it's a really confusing place.

First of all a baby thinks that he's just as intelligent as an adult. They haven't yet grasped the concept of language and cannot discern the fact that the noises they're making is any less coherent than the voices adults are making.
So imagine, every time you have something important to say or have a complaint someone stuffs a rubber ball in your mouth!

And then when you cry they shrug and say "oh it must be gas.." until you're 7-8 months when they say "oh it must be teething.."

And speaking of gas..what kind of nonsense is this idea that early smiles are caused by gas? Imagine smiling, while everyone around you is shrugging..nah it's just gas!
I mean, when was the last time you saw an adult break out in a smile and say.."oh he must have bad heartburn"??

And another thing I noticed. They say that babies are supposed to be able to recognize familiar voices from the womb. But it's pretty obvious that they don't react much differently to strange voices as they do to their parents.
And I finally figured out why.
When we talk to babies, we don't use our regular voices. We use these weird high-pitched voices that sound nothing like our regular conversation tones.
So how are babies supposed to recognize our normal voices from the womb?

Please some common sense...when dealing with our little munchkins...
:-)

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