Shabbat HaGadol and Pesach: ”Waking the Child Inside”

In and out.  In and out.  This is what Pesach is all about.

Nope, not a Dr. Seuss rhyme.  Actually the deepest thing in the world.

Pesach is all about the food we eat, the wine we drink, and making 'Seder' - an order – out of it all.

And it is about talking.  About sharing.  About telling over the story of our collective lives.

And it is about getting our children to ask questions.

"In" - the food and wine that we put into our mouths.

"Out" - the wisdom, sharing and questions that come out of our mouths.

In and out.

So who is the child that we are trying to provoke out of his or her boredom, into a state of wonder and asking questions?  Who is the child we are trying to free from the heavy-set clay of life, so that he or she might dream and ponder again?  Who is the child we are trying to wake up?

Maybe it is you and me.  Because after all, even if a person is alone for the Seder (and hopefully none of us are!), that person is still required to celebrate the Pesach Seder meal.  Why?

Because we are each just grown-up children, but we have gotten too used to playing grown-up and taking ourselves Very Seriously.  We have walled ourselves into static molds that fit a routine, and have forgotten that life it not meant to be a routine, but rather a Spiritual Journey.

Some of us are "Wise Children", too smart to have questions.

Some of us are "Wicked Children", too cool to have questions.

Some of us are "Simple Children", not wanting any waves in our lives.

And some of us are "The Child that does not Know How To Ask Questions", who might be on the highest level of all.  Because it is the child that feels the burning questions inside – questions that he or she does not know how to put into words, or the child that feels questions burning inside that he or she is afraid there is no audience for — it is THAT child who is at the precipice!  It is THAT child who is already in touch with his or her inner-voice, but simply needs a doorway opened through which he or she can step.  And so, as the sages instruct in the Hagadah – the guide-book of the Pesach Seder – we open the gates for that child!

Pesach is a time to stop feeding ourselves bullshit.  It is a time to stop eating falsely inflated food – the food of exaggeration, insecurity, self-flatery, and ego.  It is a time to thoughtfully drink some wine, in a Spiritual setting, so that the secrets can come out.  The secrets of wonder.  The secrets of being on a lifelong Spiritual Journey.  The secrets of Questions.

Attached please find a Shu-Shine for Shabbat HaGadol and Pesach: "Waking the Child Inside"

May we all be blessed to stop being too wise, stop being too cool, to get simple, to feel the questions swirling inside, and to ask our questions of life; to awaken to the journey of the child we each are.

With Love and a Smile,

~Shu

Phish Quote: "I was taught a month ago to bide my time and take it slow.  Then I learned just yesterday to rush and never waste the day.  Now I'm convinced the whole day long that all I learn is always wrong.  And things are true that I forget… but no one taught that to me yet…"