Is Standing Still Going Backwards?
Enthusiasm
Like a Bird, a person can reach undreamed-of heights as long as he works his wings. But if he relxes them for but one minute, he plummets downward.
Rabbi Yisrael Salanter (1810-1883)
It reminds me of the ascent to the altar in the Temple. The ascent was not to consist of steps. If you go up a flight of stairs it is very easy to stand still for a moment, with an incline you must always keep moving, you are either going up or down.
A human being, unlike an angel, is always moving forward or backward. We grow or we shrink.
Likewise a bird, it will have to keep using its wings, fold them together, then it falls down. There is always energy/power to be brought to the wings to keep going.
If you have just discovered the way of the 7 Mitzvot of Noah you can be super enthusiastic and go for it full force. However, the trick is to also keep going, invest time in learning and invest time to improve yourself when the novelty wears off.
When you become less enthusiastic, you can think of it as a bird that has to find the thermals to take off. Remember that he still has to bring power and energy to his wings to keep them spread, but sometimes it's important to seek out thermals, find people, books, youtubes that enliven your enthusiasm, so that after a while you can save your wings to fly higher and higher again on your own.
Brought By Angelique Sijbolts
Sources
Every Day, Holy Day
Angelique Sijbolts is one of the main writers for the Noahide Academy. She has been an observant Noahide for many years. She studies Torah with Rabbi Perets every week. Angelique invests much of her time in editing video-lectures for the Rabbis of the Academy and contributes in administrating the Academy's website in English and Dutch. She lives in the north of the Netherlands. Married and mother of two sons. She works as a teacher in a school with students with special needs. And is a Hebrew Teacher for the levels beginners en intermediate. She likes to walk, to read and play the piano.
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