Our minds – our greatest desire and worst liability

What makes us unique, of course, is the absolute incredible gift/liability God gave us – our minds!

As in everything God gave, there is a double edged sword, one great, the other quite frankly evil, as God says “see I have placed before you, life and death, choose life!”

Now what could possibly be so death inducing about our minds? (and recall, the greater the gift, the greater, it’s counterproductive ability.)

So let us venture into the benefit of the mind, and we’ll see how it’s very nature, gives us the ability to use it both as an incredible gift and hence the reverse as well!

To begin with, the reason we have a mind is so we can objectively choose to listen to God.

This is the gift of freedom of choice.
The greatest gift! for “the level of a Baal Teshuvah, one who chooses God willingly, is greater than the pious of piousts,” for man’s choice, is more compelling than a truth clearer than light!

Now here’s the flipside, for in order to fulfill the choice of following God, one must then shut off one’s curiosity.

In other words, the person who is listening to God, cannot simultaneously be judging if God’s message is correct or not!

Man by nature, says the Alter Rebbe, as told to me by Rabbi Jacobson, enjoys only what we can understand.

So I see this personally and I am sure it applies to others.

The quest for truth led me to realize that there is a God, who we obviously must unconditionally submit to.

But the internal quest for joy, enjoyment, pleasure, leads me to never desire to submit.

But then again isn’t that the nature of the greatest of gifts – freedom of choice.