Hear Our Voice

Our most common turn of phrase that we offer our loved ones when we depart our home for work or errands, “I’ll see you later,” is much closer to a prayer than a statement of fact. 

It is, whether we are aware or not, an aspiration for something we hope (and expect) to be true. Our lives are fleeting, and in the best of circumstances, there are no guarantees.

I had a professor in Jerusalem who would promise to mark up and return our papers to us on Monday, would always condition that statement with two Hebrew words: bli neder, literally meaning, “without oath.” This is a Jewish legalistic term indicating when one doesn’t wish to be held by oath, if circumstances beyond his control, made it impossible for him to fulfill his promise. You may recognize the word, neder, from the Kol Nidrei prayer, which literally translates as, “All oaths” which we pray on Yom Kippur evening, asking God for some advanced forgiveness, knowing full well our imperfect nature.

Perhaps you remember my Rosh Hashanah evening sermon this year that was focused upon the trait of humility. Humility isn’t a denigration of ego; it is a recognition and embrace of just how imperfect we are. To me, the greatest infection of our politics today is an epidemical lack of humility. Whether fueled by the echo chambers of social media, partisan-leaning cable TV, newspapers, and radio, or the penchant of politicians to use fear and intimidation to motivate voters, to say the least, humility is sorely lacking.

I am not at all suggesting that I know how to divest these elements from politics. Truth be told, they have been part and parcel of politics, long before electricity, let alone the apps through which so many receive their news and information. But I do believe that humility is a powerful reminder for how we should strive to consume our news, frame our world, and engage with others. Here’s one suggestion: if your depiction of a social ill is mostly indistinguishable from your favorite talking head on TV, it would be worthwhile to purposefully seek out other opinions. If what you push out on your social media feed fits only one narrow understanding of the world, entertain other possible opinions. And if most of your articulations of the world strongly suggest a required response in the range of “DEFCON 5,” I want to encourage you to take a break from the electronic communications and go outside. The weather is getting better, the wind is blowing a bit, and the temperature is ticking down. Outside in the world at least for a few minutes every day you can remind yourself without imagining the worst that much in life is redemptive and redeeming when we bring down the temperature of our worries and and concerns and seek to connect to others, free of politics.