In April my family celebrated Passover, which is the most observed holiday in the Jewish calendar.
It’s a family holiday celebrated at home that recalls the biblical story of the Jews’ escape from slavery in Egypt. The holiday recalls the suffering our people experienced. In the story, Moses was appointed by God to lead the Jewish people out of slavery, but the Pharoah refused to let his people go. Finally, after ten plagues were visited upon the Egyptians, concluding with the death of the firstborn, the Pharoah reluctantly released the slaves, only to change his mind at the last minute. His army pursued the Jews but then was wiped out by a miracle of the red sea opening up and then crashing down upon his army. It’s a dramatic story.
There are many interesting elements in the story that have meaning in today’s world. The value of freedom, the suffering of poverty, the heroism of Moses, and the take-home message — none of us are truly free until everyone is free. My 6-year-old granddaughter and 3-year-old grandson listened intently as I, a family elder, told the story. It’s a time every year that families come together, reconnect and celebrate living in a country where freedom and democracy are highly valued.
After the Jews left Egypt, they wandered in the desert for 40 years before they were able to enter the “Promised Land.” Many scholars wonder about this part of the story. Certainly, the desert in the Mideast could easily be crossed in a few months. And what was the promised land anyway?
From a psychological perspective, I think of the promised land as a state of mind we can aspire to. It’s where we might experience love, joy, compassion and equanimity. It’s a mental state that enables us to discern what is truly important in our lives. It’s an experience of living in the present, with all of our senses wide open and freed from the shackles of the past. When we are living in this present moment, we’re able to choose our responses to the world around us rather than be bound by old habits that have developed over time. The capacity to choose our response frees us from the past. That is truly freedom.
The 40-year journey to the promised land is an apt metaphor for the slow pace of making a change in ourselves. We all want to have more happiness and greater tranquility in the face of life’s challenges and to become the person we hope to be. Achieving those goals is often done in fits and starts — taking two steps forward and then one step back. It’s not a straight line going forward. Sometimes, despite our best intentions, we fall back to old, familiar unhealthy habits. Other times, we may lose sight of our goals and pursue what’s not aligned with what’s important to us.
Don’t give up on your dreams, aspirations and hopes. When you fall, pick yourself up, and keep going Change is incremental. But when you make progress, you will own that growth. And it will give you more confidence to stay the course.
Paul Schoenfeld is a clinical psychologist at The Everett Clinic. His Family Talk blog can be found at www. everettclinic.com/ healthwellness-library.html.
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