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Chesed of Hod
Hi everyone, Jordan Drayer, the savvy millennial voice actress who shows love through humility. Today is the start of a brand new week, the count now four weeks and one day of the Omer. If you want to know more about the Omer and how it works, check out the links in the description.
All this week, we're focusing on Hod, which is humility. This is the other leg of the tree, opposite Netzach. Where endurance is more doing and showing, humility is its balance with silence and repose. It's also acknowledgment of your gifts and gratitude to God. Acknowledgment is a more literal translation, so I might switch between the two depending on the day. We'll probably be talking a lot about God this week compared to most, because of the nature of Hod. Again, if that bothers you, make an analogy that works for you.
So we start with Chesed of Hod, the loving-kindness in humility. In making yourself humble, you're making room for the other person to shine, which can help you love them all the more. To be clear, this is not debasing yourself or letting them walk all over you. In Judaism, like Buddhism, there's a focus on a balanced path, and talking about humility, I feel like it's one that can easily confuse us. And of course, we must never go towards the arrogance end of the spectrum. It kind of seems like the old MySpace race to see who could have the most friends; do you really love all those people, or is it just to show off how many people you "love?"
One question from Chabad.org, "Does my humility cause me to be more loving and giving?" If I let go of the need to be right, I allow others more peace, it seems. Or imagine if someone's asking for another with good handwriting. If no one else steps forth, I'll do it, though I usually wait to give someone else a chance first, because I have such pride in my handwriting. If it's something I really, really want to do though, of course I'll volunteer more quickly.
Are you humble and happy or only humble and miserable? If it's the latter, you need to speak up more and shine more; that sounds like self-debasement. I believe there should be an equal balance of volunteering yourself and putting forward your ideas versus letting others go before you.
Shine
The exercise for today is actually to give charity before praying. This is a Jewish custom and thus why you see beggars sitting on the way to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. But if you're not the praying type, what can you do instead? You can give charity and then reward yourself with chocolate or something, give charity before going out with friends.
Or you can show me charity by liking and sharing this video before going on with your day! No, seriously, go choose a cause you care about, give even just $1, and you'll feel good. Thank you, and see you tomorrow.
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