23 HOURS, 59 MINUTES AND 40 SECONDS
many years ago,
the rebbe pulled me aside
and told me he wanted me to understand
the difference between being honest and being truthful.
i was perplexed.
he continued saying
“be honest.”
and explained the following situation.
if a man were to come home and tell his wife
i thought about you almost every moment of the day
except for about 20 seconds when this beautiful woman walked by.
what do you think his wife would hear.
the 20 seconds right.
she would remember that for 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 40 seconds
all he could do was think of her.
that is being truthful.
honest is to come home and say,
“baby, i love you so much,
i thought about you the whole day today.”
perhaps it is because i do it so much in my life
that i see it so much in others.
why do we spend our time thinking only of the 20 seconds?
i used to judge a whole religion, because of a few.
i look in the mirror and see my flaws rather than my strengths
i remember the moments i made a mistake,
rather than the life that i have lived gloriously.
do you do this too?
here is my promise to myself
and because we are all connected in the beautiful mosaic of life
to you as well.
i will choose to be honest with myself more that truthful
i will allow all of the moments to make up my present
i will see the totality of the mosaic
rather than get lost in the individual broken pieces.
when we meditate and celebrate world peace together
every night at 9pm EST
let’s remember our world is amazingly beautiful
and the vast, vast, vast majority of the people living here
are kind and loving and want to live in peace.
even those who are caught in a belief of the moment
where they feel destruction is the only way to speak their truth
may we pray from our own experience
that together we see honestly
not only the 20 seconds
but the 23 hours, 59 minutes, 40 seconds
that make up who we are on a day to day basis.
to me, this is the miracle of hanukkah,
the birth that we celebrate at christmas
the principles and symbols of kwanza
we are one mosaic,
one exquisite piece of art
made up of all of our moments
what will we focus on,
the necessary parts on the mosaic that are filled with darkness
or the totality of the mosaic that makes us light.
i know which one i choose. how about you?
