A Higher Purpose

[Notes from the campaign trail, courtesy of the Candyman. -LNM]

The last few weeks have been some of the most whirlwind and intense of my life. I have been campaigning for Barack Obama in my home state of California. I am not a politician, but I've felt for a long time that Obama was special. His themes of unity and peacemaking appeal to me. It's a message we've all heard before, so simple, so powerful, yet somehow so difficult for us to achieve. I've never heard a politician speak that way before. So when I was presented with the opportunity to volunteer for his campaign in a leadership role, I took it. After all, these opportunities don't come along every day.

I've met so many people over the last few weeks. Bob, a soft-spoken, retired gentleman whose house became our neighborhood Obama headquarters, filled with volunteers on cell phones. JD, a videographer who decided to devote all his tape to the Obama campaign. Blake, a student at the local theological school and part-time Obama for America coordinator, who gave a rousing speech about the meaning of a grass-roots campaign. And so many others. These folks were inspired, and they inspired me. We became a diverse coalition, people of all ages, all races, united under the banner of unity itself.



The experience has changed me. For the first time since my early days in yeshiva, I feel like I'm part of something greater. It's like a wind at my back, pushing me forward with a greater purpose. It sends chills down my spine, just walking around town. I wonder if this is what the prophets felt like, when they were bursting with the word of God.

It has made me think about some of the conversations we've had in this space, conversations about priorities. I have long lamented the fact that Jews spend most of their spiritual time interacting with other Jews. I have opined that our time would be better spent serving the general community, even at the cost of religious services. The latter suggestion met with strong opposition from some readers of this blog. Some of them even challenged me to put my money where my mouth was. Why spend your time blogging? Surely there must be better ways to help the community, better ways to spend your time.

Reflecting on the Obama campaign, I am wondering whether perhaps I got it wrong. You see, different things will move different people. For me, it is the politics of hope that send chills down my spine. For others, it is a rousing chant of L'cha Dodi on Friday evening. And that's OK. That's spiritual. That's wonderful. If you enjoy it, if you find meaning in it, if this is what moves you, then by all means do not give that up. There's no right answer here, and it's not my place to judge how you spend your time. On the contrary: chase that feeling down, immerse yourself in it, delve into it, wrestle with it, follow it to its core. It's what works for you.

That being said, life is long. And you may find, as did I, that your priorities change over time. As Adyashanti once put it, the spiritual tools that work for you at one time in your life may not work at another time. If that happens, do not be afraid to cast yourself upon the river and see where the current takes you. Do not be afraid to experiment, to change. You see, change does not mean that what went before was wrong or stupid or useless or meaningless. Life is a development. Change does not incriminate the past, but rather elevates it into something relevant and important. In realigning ourselves with our own internal compass, we return meaning to our lives. We resurrect the dead within ourselves, and turn our sins into merits. So however you choose spend your spiritual time, I encourage you to continuously seek out experiences that send a chill down your spine. That give you the sense of something greater. For random globs of cells like us, there is really little more we can ask out of life.