Book Report: Living a life that matters by Harol S. Kushner
This book was recently recommended to me by a spiritual guide and leader, Rabbi Susan Lippe, and it's one of the most impactful books I've read in a long time. It helped me come to better terms with myself, my place in ethical dilemmas, and have greater confidence that I will continue to lead a moral life despite the thoughts of immorality.
Humans live in two worlds, the world of spirit / faith and the earthly world of competition. In the past, I've lived predominately on the side of the spirit. As humans, we have two basic needs. We need to feel 'good' about ourselves, is the first. Everyone needs to feel as though they are 'good and just' in their lives. The other basic need people have is to feel successful. We shape our thoughts and actions so that we can meet these two basic needs we have.
There is Mother love, then there is Father love, and we need both to realize a full potential. Mother love is nurturing and unconditional - love from the beginning that is consistently carried through life. Fatherly love is love that grows through the life and starts to plateau as the child's independence is realized.
Our souls are split, one chasing goodness, the other fortune & fame. The people we admire are the ones that have closed the gap between the two worlds.
Key take-aways on relationships:
• We can not live without the knowledge that someone cares about us
• We need to feel like we can not be replaced
• Sometimes marriage fails b/c one partner is frustrated in his need to give love, to make a difference in another person's life - we need to feel important to someone
God plants what's called the yetzer ha-ra within each one of us, 'the evil impulse" or " the will to do evil" / 'the will to selfishness' or the 'egotistical principle.' A definition of sin is ''rejecting relationships, both private and public, in which we affirm our own dignity and respect the dignity of the other.' Sometimes we do the wrong things for self protection, out of desperation, fear or anger and we override the voice of conscience.
We strengthen our moral fiber by the exercise of resisting temptation: 'You must be tempted or you can not be good.'
Resolving the yetzer ha-ra with your faith so both can exist in harmony is the only way to morally live.
