Ridiculous Sharing

Kabbalistic teachings are often based on the concept of as you act, so acts the Light of the Creator, meaning the way you treat others is how the Creator treats you.

Therefore, if we want the Light to continuously share with us blessings and goodness, then we need to cultivate a consciousness of continuously looking to share with others. In fact, we need to be ridiculous in our sharing.

Some people only make a connection, share, meditate, pray – act spiritually – when they are in trouble and need help from above. That’s one level of living. A second level is, as King David says in Psalms, “May goodness and mercy run after me all the days of my life,” meaning as we run after opportunities to help and share with others, blessings will run after us!

What type of life do you want to have? Do you want to have a life where everything is all right and suddenly you need to go and run after a blessing? Or do you want those blessings to run after you?

Most of us want to live a life where goodness is being dumped upon us all the time. How do we create that? Well, it’s simple. We have to be running and dumping goodness and sharing onto others. If you act like that towards people, the Creator will act like that towards you.

This concept is expressed in the biblical story of how Isaac came to marry Rebecca. It is written that Abraham dispatches his servant Eliezar to find his son’s soul mate. Eliezer (himself an elevated soul) prays for guidance and receives an answer: The first young woman who responds to his request for a drink of water will be “the one.”

The story continues. As he pulls into a small town, he discovers Rebecca standing beside a well, busily helping and serving her flock. He approaches her and asks for a drink of water. Not only does she grant his request, but she provides enough liquid for his entire contingent. And for those of you not familiar with the story, I can tell you that Eliezer was a giant of a man, and he traveled with a large entourage of camels and helpers.

When I tell this story to audiences, I always make a joke – this really wasn’t a test for Isaac’s soul mate, this was a test for a crazy person! Imagine this big, strong man – and his entire group of people and animals – approaching this one young woman with a request for a drink. The normal response, if you’re a kind person, would be to give him a drink. But to jump to the next thought, let me give all your people and camels a drink, now that’s ridiculous.

The idea is that most of us share when it makes sense – I’m a kind person, you are in need, so I’ll give to you. But this story is teaching us we have to change how we view sharing. It’s not about the other person – it’s about me. When you understand the power and influence sharing has in your life, you can’t help but want to find every ridiculous way to share.

Now, I know this is not easy. If we understood this lesson, we would all live it, but our work is to awaken this understanding.

This week, take this concept in. Look for people you can share with – especially those you don’t want to – again, with the right understanding. Don’t share because you are a good person and you want to help someone out. Share because you know you have to run after somebody and share with them ridiculously in order for the Light to run after you with ridiculous blessings.