Once, there where three sons who wanted to honor their mother for her 90th birthday. They where all pretty wealthy and money wasn’t an issue. One decided to buy his mother a mansion, the other bought a brand new luxury car with a chauffeur.
The third son being a little more traditional, went looking for something unique and extraordinary. One day he was walking by a pet store and noticed a large sign, “Parrot who can recite the entire Bible, on sale.”
He thought, that would be perfect for his mother who was from the old country and loved the verses from the Bible. He paid the $150,000 for this astonishing bird and gave it to his mom for her birthday.
The following year, when all the boys where sitting around the table with mom for her 91st birthday, they asked her how she was enjoying their respective gifts. “Well you know, I appreciate the house but it’s way too big for an old little woman like me.” “And the car....I really don’t go many places and the chauffer just hangs around.” “But let me tell you about the bird..... It was the best chicken soup I ever tasted.”
Many times we have so many opportunities handed to us on a silver platter and instead of using it for its intended incredible purpose, we waste it on trivial matters. Whether it’s because we don’t know, or we don’t care we certainly don’t want to lose what’s already been granted and gifted to us.
Take the lessons from the Bible for example. We would rather read a fresh new article written in some trendy magazine, which is sure to change almost 180 degrees the following month, than benefit from the time tested, successful advice handed to us by G-d.
When Abraham started out on his first mission from G-d, he was no youngster, he was 75 years old. G-d tells him, “for your own enjoyment and good”, “go (discover) yourself (by leaving) from your land, from your place of birth from the house of your father.” Later on the bible tells us, G-d loved Abraham because, he would announce and make known that “G-d is the master of the world” and that Abraham would, “transmit the values of righteousness and justice to his children.”
We have here a phenomenal lesson on how one is able to reach, “enjoyment and good in life”.
Some people have this idea, that the more they indulge in their own self, and do things to satisfy their desires the more they will find happiness. This, only places them deeper, and further away from the happiness they yearn for.
G-d was telling Abraham and everyone who draws an eternal message from the Bible. If you want to find yourself, if you really want to experience the maximum life has to offer, it’s not by self-gratification and hedonism. You must leave your land, your world etc.
In Hebrew the word land, can be understood as, “your desires.” The word, your place of birth, can be understood as “your habits.” And the word, the house of your father, can be understood as, “your logic.”
The desires that come by itself and natural for most people, is usually connected to materialism and associated with the coarseness of this world. The habits and routines we have developed over the years, many of them if not most of them, support our desires. And, doing things ONLY because it makes sense to us, keeps us confined to our own self. No real growth there.
When a person decides that his desires, habits and thinking must include a greater benefit for society, to elevate the consciousness in the world to higher standards of morals and values and the awareness of G-d, he will truly reach his greatest potential. A person who dedicates his life not just to himself but to the world, to make it a better place, is a happier person with a more enjoyable life, for his, own good.