The Third Step: Believe Your Eyes

This week the Jewish wisdom tradition is asking you to pay attention to your window of opportunity - and not to miss it. In the Torah story this window is hard to miss: the parting of the Sea of Reeds #iconic. The image that we all share of this epic scene of miracles, freedom, and marching, symbolizes the culmination of liberation. But in real life, the opportunities and pathways to freedom are never so clear or obvious. So how can you be sure to catch them?

In classic Jewish fashion, the best answer lives in the wisdom of a story: Nachshon at the Sea.

As the Egyptians armies approached, it’s taught that it was Nachshon who prompted the miracle of the splitting of the sea by walking into the water (4 min fun animated review of this story here!). Had he not seized the opportunity, freedom may have been lost! “Okay, Rabbi, so what?” Good question.

The first piece of wisdom from this story I see is to be clear about what you need - it’s often right in front of you. In this case it was the sea, but it could also be the corner you think you’re backed into. I often hear people say “I have no choice!” when, in fact, this is seldom ever true. There is always a third way, an alternative to drowning in the ocean or being taken over by Pharaoh’s army.

Second, in order to find the pathway, take assessment of who you trust. In the Torah - it’s God. For you (if God is a challenging subject to wrap your head around) it could be something else invisible, like intuition or a feeling of lightness in response to an alternative, versus one of heaviness. This can be an indicator of where your confidence lies.

And finally, believe your eyes.

It is a piece of insight ironically missed because the parting of the sea is so hard to believe, but the wisdom of this moment is to remind us to let what we see inform our beliefs. Or maybe - more aptly - if you want change and to get unstuck and to find your window of opportunity, you need to be open to upgrade your beliefs based on what you see.

Identify what you need, orient your trust, and believe what you see. This is the wisdom of the Israelites at the shores of the sea so you and I can direct ourselves to the truth and make our way to freedom.