Many posts of mine have focused on exploring imperfection (see here, here and here for some examples). I believe so much of our struggles in life come from not being to accept that we are the imperfect human. In the piece below, Rebbe Nachman offers us a perspective on how our faith can be a source of strength to embrace the need for growth.
י. צָרִיךְ לִשְׁמֹר מְאֹד אֶת הָאֱמוּנָה שֶׁלֹּא תִּתְקַלְקֵל חַ”ו. כִּי עַל־יְדֵי קִלְקוּל הָאֱמוּנָה אֵין יְכוֹלִין לְקַבֵּל מוּסָר מִמּוֹכִיחֵי אֱמֶת, וְנִתְקַלְקֵל הַשָּׁלוֹם, וְנַעֲשָׂה גֵּרוּשׁ וּמַחְלֹקֶת חַ”ו, וּבָאִים לִכְפִירוֹת וְלַעֲבוֹדָה זָרָה וְלֶאֱמוּנוֹת כּוֹזְבִיּוֹת. כִּי הָאֱמוּנָה הִיא עִקַּר חוֹתָם הָעֶלְיוֹן שֶׁל הַקְּדֻשָּׁה שֶׁצְּרִיכִין לְשֹׁמְרוֹ מְאֹד, שֶׁעַל־יְדֵי זֶה נִשְׁמָר כָּל הַקְּדֻשָּׁה: (לק”א סי’ כ”ב אות א’ ב’)
Make sure that you never let your faith become weakened. A person whose faith is weak is unable to accept honest criticism. This is very damaging to the cause of peace because it results in all kinds of aggressiveness, exile and conflict. The end result is godlessness and idolatry, false ideologies and false religions. True faith is the foundation of everything. It is the seal of holiness. You must guard it well because through doing so you are protecting holiness itself (22:1,2).
When we struggle to have faith that our human foibles are not something to be ashamed of but are part of how we relate to our existence in relationship with the one true perfection, Gd, Rebbe Nachman suggests we can fall into very difficult spaces. When people cannot admit to mistakes, they often double down and open up the door to furthering the problem instead of trying to make things better by first saying, “oops, I messed up.” When we don’t hear the criticism, when we don’t acknowledge our errors, we are creating worlds of self-worship, self-aggrandizement, the hallmarks of false ideologies.
When we can cultivate, grow and protect our faith, we begin to find a deeper sense of sacredness, of personal and collective holiness. Life is a series of imperfect actions that we are working to overcome and with faith we can find the fortitude to learn from our mistakes to do always be improving.
Are you struggling with your spiritual growth? Faith? Feeling lost in the midst of the journey of life? Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com
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