{"id":67639,"date":"2019-12-24T09:36:22","date_gmt":"2019-12-24T07:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=67639"},"modified":"2023-07-20T12:18:38","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T09:18:38","slug":"generosity-salvation-and-goodness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/generosity-salvation-and-goodness\/","title":{"rendered":"Generosity, Salvation, and Goodness"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[498,542,360],"acf":{"old_id":"67639","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33992,"related_cahpter":"379","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The key to lives of abundance in a world blighted by tragedy","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the midst of a series of prophecies about the Persian King, Cyrus, and his role in the salvation of the Jews, and of the known world, Isaiah shares an observation \u2013 both about the natural order and about human psychology \u2013 that bears our focus and will reward direct attention.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Prophet perceives God as offering <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pour out, O heavens, from above, and let the upper heights drip generosity; Let the earth open up and salvation and goodness will flourish; let it make them sprout together; I am the Lord who created this\u201d (verse 8).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s what we know about this spectacular planet. In a vast, cold, explosive cosmos, this is an island of stability, bounty, and life. The extraordinary confluence of stabilizing features, none of them unique to the earth, but coming together, quite unusual, are a rotating moon, a stable equator, a churning interior with a thin crust, just the right distance from the sun \u2026 and on and on. No one of these features is sufficient or unique. But there are precious few places in the vast spacetime bubble we find ourselves that combine them all. And all, together, are necessary to support the evolution of complex life, with the kind of mindfulness that can sprout into consciousness, self-consciousness, and spirit. It is indeed because of this cosmic \u201cgenerosity\u201d that the earth can open up to salvation and goodness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This reality is no less true on the human level. In lives blighted not only by tragic events, but stewing in rage and resentment, it is virtually impossible for humans to thrive. For lives of \u201c<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shefa<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(bounty, abundance) there has to be a primary coat of generosity \u2013 of focusing on instances of abundance rather than of deprivation, relying on those relationships that nourish, rather than chasing those which merely glitter from afar. A life rooted in \u201cgenerosity\u201d is the only kind that can sprout in salvation and goodness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Generosity is an aspect of reality, and an attitude toward reality. It reflects a choice to attend to the resources of a fuller life and an interweave of connections, rather than to endlessly bemoan life\u2019s limits, challenges, and disappointments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Which is to say that generosity is, in part, a choice. 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