“And Abraham was elderly, come into days.” (Genesis 24:1)
Abraham, we are told, was not just elderly, but “come into days.” Meaning, he had entered into his days, every one of them.
Whatever it was he needed to do, whether to teach wisdom or to graze sheep, to throw himself into fire or to feed hungry strangers, to command or to obey, to love or to fight—in every act of life he invested his entire being.
And so he owned every day of his life. His life was his.
A key word and statement in this devotion, "elderly" and "come into days" can be paralled to Psalm 90 the Prayer of Moses. Verse 12 said, "So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." The word elderly should be annotated as elder [a sage, a person full of wisdom] and not a disposition of someone in a disabled state of being. Abraham must have been 140 years old when Isaac married Rebecca and lived another 35 years to 175 before he transitioned to the next level. In Psalm 90 verse 17, Moses said, ". . . Yes, establish the work of our hands." If life is a journey or a classrom, by 140 Abraham had learned and completed his work, exhibited correct wisdom, and enjoyed the fruit of his labor [the patriarch of the Jews and the father of faith]. Abraham a sage, an elder, and full of wisdom; work was established thusly fulfilling his purpose. Class dismissed. He received an A+. We should be so blessed to do so.
Be Blessed
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Questions posed, no answers given... When Abraham invested his whole being, where was room for G’d’s Will be done? Almost 70 yo now.. What if one’s whole Being is the will to be passive, be Grail, be? To be instead of do? And in this doing G’d’s will? Perhaps by singing, dancing, washing the dishes, playing the piano, painting. And in this sharing and giving light and love... Is by saying this my question answered, in seeing we all are part of totality of human “body”, but different in our ways “to invest our whole being”? Not completely, no.. Are we free to invest our whole Being.... also in the asking “Who am I.”
The feminine is different from the masculine, equal but not the same. Prhaps a good beginning (continuation) is to invest whole being in doing and non-doing during the day, being “mindful”..
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I would like to learn how to do this. How can I better "invest my entire being" into each hour of each day? How can I become more like Abraham. (I am a Noahide.) Thank you. Reply
i try i try to keep up and be responsible, it is easier since i cut out a lot of waste and stupid behavior! Reply
Come of Days
Abraham had the power or right to act, speak, or think as he wanted without hindrance or restraint. Absolutely awesome. Every day I watch the state of the World and especially right here America, and in shock I gasp, shaking my head wondering how could this happen. Why is this happening? I am reminded, that G-d is not shocked, nor is He surprised, and just as Moses asked the Children of Israel, Who is on the Lord's side? HaShem asks us today. I proudly think out loud, I am. We are free!!
Have a peaceful day.
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'come of days'.....does this mean he lived in a quiet state of 'knowing' from his heart rather than questioning from his mind? Reply
How should we gain this heart of wisdom? We make mistakes and learn from them and hopefully from the mistakes of others, including what we can gain from the Torah. This process brings knowledge and only through the deeper understanding of that good knowledge, can wisdom be obtained.
"Change brings pain, pain brings knowledge, knowledge brings wisdom, and wisdom makes life bearable." And I suppose that when we have become sufficiently wise, there will be no cause to be unhappy.
Good Morning, David
I love how you present the process of change and its end result "no cause to be unhappy" in the your second paragraph. I associate it with a woman who is in labor. For 9 months a woman's body is changing as her body protects and nutures a new life. Then she feels an enormous amount of pain as her body prepares to give birth to this new life. Once the baby comes forth, and she hears the baby's cry, and looks upon her baby's face, there is immense joy! The story of the journey was so worth it as she tells it time and time again; no pain! When we know change is coming we're anxious yet content. However; when change is unexpected, there is worry and fear because we can't see where we are going or know the end result. These are the moments when we must have faith like Abraham and trust G-d. Despite the process, the end result for Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Esau was good. Their story is our story too, and G-d wants us to laugh and have joy 2. Thank you!
Hi, David
I just remembered a quote from a Austrian Jewish and Israeli Philosopher, Martin Buber that shares a little light on your comment. He said, "All journeys have a secret destination of which the traveler is unaware." Our journey is in G-d's hands.
Be Blessed!