Postponing the inevitable

Photo by xJasonRogersx

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Have you ever had to make a decision, but kept postponing it, even though you knew it was the right thing to do and that you will have to make that decision at some point? I think all of us faced this dilemma at some point in our lives. We already set our minds. We already weighed all the pros and cons, but we hesitate to make the final move.

Sometimes it is an internal voice that makes us hesitate, but sometimes, it is people around us, even with the best of intentions, that hold us back. The resistance is even bigger when big change is on the doorstep. Even when people recognize the need for change they still resist it, and try to postpone it.

Rebekah’s brother (Laban) and mother were just like that. They knew that there Rebekah will probably leave at some point. A day before, they even admitted that her departure was determined and blessed by god himself. But suddenly, after the celebrations of the night were over, they had doubts. Maybe we should wait a little. Let Rebekah stays with us a little longer. Just ten days, no more. And we all know what would have happened if she stayed for ten days. We call it the Salami method. Ten becomes twenty and twenty becomes forty and suddenly she never leaves.

It is Rebekah who stands up and makes the brave move to go with the stranger to marry a man she never met. Beside the fact (that I mention in my e-book) that the family allows her the make the choice about going, Rebekah understands that postponing the move would not help. That as soon as the decision is made, frightening as the move may be, there is no point in waiting. It is better to decisively go about and face the fear head on.

And in that small statement: “I will go”, she teaches us how important it is to take that next step and stop postponing the inevitable.

Elad

In love actions speak louder than words

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This post is dedicated to Genesis 23.

A few months ago I visited India and when you go to India you can’t miss out on the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal has become a symbol of India (and by Symbol, I mean that when Hollywood disaster movies want to show a disaster around the world, they show a picture of the Taj Mahal, to show the disaster also struck India). Cynicism aside, the building in indeed an impressive piece of symmetric architecture and it resonates with different times when so much art was put into buildings and into creating a beautiful environment (even though, usually only for the rich).

So, why am I telling you about the Taj Mahal in a blog about the bible? Because, I was amazed to discover that the Taj Mahal was actually a great tomb for the dead wife of an emperor (source – Wikipedia):

n 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire‘s period of greatest prosperity, was griefstricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their fourteenth child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632, one year after her death.

“And your point is?” you must be asking yourselves… And I answer: “Patience”.

Meir Shalev in his book about the bible, “In the beginning“, points to the fact that the first time we encounter some kind of occurrence of the term “love” in the bible is in Genesis 24 when we read:

And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. And he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death

“Wait! Now you totally lost us” you must be saying. “You said this post was about Genesis 23. Then you started talking about the Taj Mahal, and then you talk about Genesis 24. What is going on here?”. And I answer: “Patience”.

In the movie, The Last Kiss, the main character has cheated on his girlfriend and he is trying to win her back. He goes to her house and tells her father that he loves her. This is what the father tells him:

Stop talking about love. Every asshole in the world says he loves somebody. It means nothing. It still doesn’t mean anything. What you feel only matters to you. It’s what you do to the people you say you love, that’s what matters. It’s the only thing that counts.

And I think Genesis 23 is about all these things. First of all, it is about love. And in love, like in life, actions speak louder than words. Maybe we never read that Abraham loved Sarah, but his actions after her death, speak louder than words.  Love first appears in the bible in Genesis 23. Abraham wants to bury her in a way that will honor her memory. And he does everything in his power to secure that goal. He asks, he begs, he grovels, he uses his status and influence and he pays money. In short, he does anything he can.

Call me a romantic, but this kind of loves speaks to me. It stands out of the words of the bible and grabs your heart. When I read this story I am as amazed at the kind of feelings of love that Abraham felt for Sarah as I stood amazed at the beauty of the Taj Mahal. But then again, it also leaves you kind of angry. Because I cannot stop myself from being angry with both of these men for not showing the same actions that speak of love, while their loved ones were alive.

And I think this is the morale of the story here. If you are lucky enough to have someone you love out there, don’t waste another breath. Do something. Show them your love. Act like you love them. We have two pieces of history to show us that sometimes, it is too late to act love, and all you can do, is put yourself into the memory of what you loved. Let us not celebrate tombs and lost loves. Let us celebrate actions and current love.

Elad