Michael L. Fischler of Holderness is a professor emeritus of Counselor Education and School Psychology at Plymouth State University.
As we struggle to uncover vital lessons from the ongoing tragedy in Ukraine, it would be wise to consider the response of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a spiritual leader who during an earlier holocaust watched the world he grew up in — his teachers, community, friends and family — obliterated, while the world around him did nothing. He came to see his life mission as helping individuals to recognize the cost of living in a world where “indifference” was rampant.
Heschel often encountered individuals who would critically question him as to, “Where was God during the Holocaust?” In return (as shared during the epic PBS documentary about Heschel’s life, “Spiritual Audacity”) he’d respond, “Where was God, you ask? Why are you bringing that question to God? So, you want to say to God, “Where were you???” God’s answer is, “Where were you???”
This author, biblical scholar, and civil rights activist who marched arm-in-arm with Martin Luther King teaches us that God just doesn’t work alone but needs partners if reason and healing are to prevail. For each of us it’s time to “partner up with God” (or spirit, or whatever higher power or ethical principle guides you) and find ways to turn our aspirations into actions.
What can you commit to do today, and then during each tomorrow to contribute toward healing Ukraine, our nation, our disparate lives, and toward repairing this broken world?
Toward achieving those ends, please take out a pen and paper and candidly provide responses to the following:
■Regarding Ukraine, given the complexity of the problems facing the Ukrainian people list the three you believe are most in need of being addressed if healing is to occur. Of those three, which one represents the problem that you would most like to see addressed today? How can you contribute toward providing the “healing support” needed to address that problem?
■Regarding our nation, and given the complexity of problems we (including New Hampshire) are facing, list the three you believe are most in need of addressing if healing is to occur. Next, identify the one problem you feel is most pressing, and in what way you can contribute toward providing healing support.
■Now consider your personal life, and the three areas where you struggle the most, and of the three which part of your life is most in need of healing, and what needs to take place for that healing to occur? From the three areas above, Ukraine, our nation, and your personal life, choose the one area you feel is most in need of being addressed. For that “area” construct a specific plan for addressing that issue, including who, what, when, where and how? Identify a timeline for completing the process and write out a contract with yourself attesting to your commitment to following through. Sign the contract and carry it with you.
■Upon completing your contract celebrate your effort, and then move on to the next issue in need of your healing support.
In closing we must recognize that “Healing Our Broken World” will not occur without partners, and that our effort toward facilitating healing needs to be a part of our daily lives.
A gift from the wisdom of Heschel: the lessons learned from the tragedy of the holocaust; the sacrifices and courage of the Ukrainian people; and the gift our world can finally achieve from the death of indifference.