The baby has taken those first steps now and she is not so sure that this really is the best way to get around. She holds onto the furniture, timidly taking those shaky little steps and she cruises around a while. Holding on to each solid piece of furniture for security, she makes her way slowly around the room. Sometimes, if that is not quick enough for her, she will revert to crawling on the floor. Especially if she sees Mommy or Tatty! As time goes by and she becomes proficient in her new found skill she will walk more and more.
Babies cannot forget the excitement of walking! Eager to practice, they walk more and more, even running at times! As they develop, getting better, hardly ever do they return to crawling as they have found their new ambulatory skills to be the most efficient way of getting from place to place. You see once they have learned this skill, they do not go back. Young children, teenagers, adults, none of us purposely return to this crawling stage to get from one place to another. We cannot ever forget our days of walking. Once we reach this level we can never go back.
Recently at a shiur I heard this same message. The Rabbi was saying how once we reach each level spiritually we can never go back down from the Truth of that level we have learned. I really did not understand this at all. I thought about myself and how I have done things to lay them down again for a while. I began thinking about this concept and I realized that the truth is I could never forget a Torah Truth after I learned it. What does this mean? At those times in my life, after I have learned something and maybe not grasping it, I put it aside, I am just cruising the furniture for a while yet. I am just holding onto each piece of solid Torah Truth (the furniture) that I do know, to get around the room (my life). I take those small steps and sometimes I crawl a little. Finally then there are those days that I take my steps. As halting as they may be, I am still moving forward. I am still getting around, and B'ezrat Hashem (with G-d's help, my Abba's help) I will soon be running!
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2 comments:
Reading your posting, I am reminded of this quote from the Baal Shem Tov:
"When a father teaches his young son how to walk, what does he do? He places the child on his feet and reaches out with his arm so that the child will not fall down. As the child toddles between the father's arms, the father moves backward bit by bit, and the child follows. The more the father moves back, the harder the child tries to reach him. That's how he learns to walk. G-d acts towards man in the same manner. When a Jew passionately seeks communion with G-d, G-d responds by distancing Himself. This only intensifies the Jews yearning. The more detached from G-d the Jew feels, the stronger is his longing to be next to Him."
That was so beautiful! Thank you so much for posting this quote.
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