Ten Minutes of Meaning (Part 211): The Fear to End All Fears - Mesillas Yesharim

good morning may it be a may it be a good day for cl yesh as we continue to get unfortunately terrible news our learn is dedicated in the memory of the too many soldiers who have already given their lives to defend and we are on the 24th paric of of of the path of the just has been helping us chart a path to a better version of ourselves we've gone through the many many mid in the formula how to be more Vigilant and act with more alacrity and Purge the negative qualities how to live with greater mindfulness and we're up to the peric of the notion not only of faith in Hashem but faith in his rules and accountability and consequences the significance of not only not only is it to be Aid not just the fun not just the feeling not just the warmth and the love all of which is accurate and true and the foundation of what it means to be a yid but also a healthy dose of of a and the has divided two types of year Theus a healthy sense of a when we realize is omnipotent he's Limitless he's infinite he is great he's the source of all existence and when we consider who he is and how he runs his world we recoil with a sense of awe he's simply awesome but also a healthy dose of the notion that doesn't make 63 suggestions to us but they are his rules his laws this is his world and we are simply guests in it we serve at his pleasure and if we don't fulfill what he expects of us there are consequences and accountability that he loves us and he forgives us and he's rooting for us but he also has expectations of us when a person is supposed to live with this healthy healthy fear of doing the wrong thing not a fear that creates anxious or anxiety but an awareness and a mindfulness of what expectations there are of us then it means that in all moment in all time when we understand what is at stake a person is Vigilant we would never want to violate hashem's expectation if there's someone that you love and the foundation of that relationship is the faithfulness you would never even want to come to the edge the boundary the border of violating their trust person would be aware and Vigilant all the time this is their expectations this is what will make them happy this is what will make them feel betrayed I never want to come close to that so if we live with if we live with the healthy awe admiration desire to come close to be then we also have a because we don't want to disappoint we don't want to violate his expectation we don't want him to be disappointed in US that's why it's called fear of sin its Essence is fear that a person might make a mistake that would permeate and intermingle with one's Deeds through negligence or through laxity or a result of forgetfulness there's so many metaphors we can give for what it means to live with a healthy year whether it's a person who has an allergy if there's a person who is allergic to a certain type of food every time they eat at home in a restaurant or at someone else's house they're going to be vigilant and asking if that ingredients in that food they're going to walk around is it called an EpiPen we're going to walk around always with an EpiPen because the consequences so grave is so great in his commentary on Dr AB jski brings the metaphor of his expertise which is alcoholism addiction and he talks about the alcoholic the addict who understands what's at stake that one aera SAA person violates that boundary once it can easily snowball and it can easily lead to more and more a person can habituate themselves to violate the boundary over and over again and what's at stake there are people who've been clean a year 10 years 50 years and one drink one drink one sip of one drink could lead to their entire downfall to their immersion back into that world of addiction poor judgment sabotaging their own lives he tells the story in his sa the patient maintaining a sobriety following the recommended recovery regimen Faithfully about eight months later he called in a state of panic he had been invited to a friend's wedding reception was offered an alcoholic drink which he refused but he did accept a glass of punch one sip of the punch told him he had been spiked with alcohol he promptly put the glass down and ran to call me what should I do I accidentally swallowed alcohol I don't want to lose my job my family what can I do to prevent this from becoming a full-blown re relapse should I sign myself into the hospital for a few days with this man realized about alcohol is what most people do not understand about aera AA something which theic Master did understand a minor infraction may be minor only on its own but there's no telling what series of events it may set in motion that could have grave consequences that's is now discussing person who reaches a high level of spirituality realizes everything might be lost by even a single bacterium of sin will be a constant Village to prevent such An Occurrence I'll give you one last metaphor child gets their driver's license first time they take your car they go out on the highway you're not worried about your car you're worried about your child's life the stakes are so high a car going at a fast speed is a is a weapon it's a deadly weapon to themselves and to others say don't don't look at your phone for one second Don't Take Your Eye Off the road don't take your hands off the steering wheel what is it 10 and two nine and three don't don't you gotta be vigilant you know somebody can swear you've been on 95 everyone knows the the logo of the State of Florida is Knuckles on a steering wheel on the top of the head if you've been on 995 you know that you're taking your life into your hands and if you stake your eyes off the road for one moment people can swerve in front of you they can cut you off they can you have to be vigilant you know what's at stake and you want your child to be afraid you want them to be afraid because when a person is fearless they act Reckless and a healthy fear not a debilitating fear not a paralyzing fear but enough fear that you're cautious and Vigilant that's the secret to life to safety phys phally but also to safety spiritually and emotionally and that's why is emphasizing you have to haveit person has to have amuna not only inem because if you think that is like not as serious as a peanut allergy if you think K is not as consequential as a sip of alcohol for an alcoholic if you think that is not as dangerous as taking your eye off the road as texting while driving you could lose your whole life spiritually a person has to have not only to know what's at stake and therefore that healthy sense of concern worry fear about leading to not recklessness but vigilance and that's what said as praiseworthy is the person who lives with a healthy who lives with the healthy because even though you don't see the impediment the obstacle the enemy right in front of you with thinking about our soldiers our precious soldiers were doing so hard as these last couple days we've learned what's at stake every turn they take could be a car could be a a car loaded with a bomb could be a booby trapped could be all kinds of things so you say well what I see in front of me right now looks safe I'm good to go you better have a healthy yeara every corner you turn every step you take every tunnel you enter you have no idea what's there ding so hard the Courage The Bravery the risk they're taking to defend us and we in our lives every corner you turn every step we take every tunnel spiritually we enter we think well well I don't see anything in front of me right now I can't imagine there's any peanuts in this food you know who says that someone who doesn't have a peanut allergy but if you go into anaphylactic shock if eating peanuts could cost you your life you don't say I can't imagine there's any peanuts in this recipe you ask 15 times you look yourself you have your EP pen handy and even then you eat a little bit and see what how you react so that's how we live life for the healthyu says the essence of this is to a point that a person should always be trembling constantly to the point that you never it never leaves you you never get so arrogant while you drive that you take your hands off the steering wheel you text you're not looking at the road because such a mentality is a recklessness that could cost you your life and cost other people their life and what's true physically is true and is true spiritually he writes in the 66 peric of yes to such will I look to the impoverished and the crippled in spirit and the one who shutters at my word to be whatever your in life we should all be where does the term come from to be a is to shake to be a is to shake we're all if you believe if you have if you believe that there's consequence there's accountability there's danger there's risk that a person has to be vigilant that if a person's not careful with what we say with what we look at the the yahar is so vulnerable and fragile the mistakes that we make are so grave we could sabotage our our family our success our spiritual life says princes have pursued me without cause but my heart fears only for your word I'm not worried I'm not worried about enemies I'm not worried about the fears that others have all I feon is you meeting your and not disappointing you and a person who lives with such vigilance does not live a life that's gripped or Paralyzed by fear it's actually living a life that liberates us to not be afraid of anything else in the world because if all we fear is him then we're free to not be afraid of anything else in the world not public speaking not flying not uh large crowds if a person can Channel all that fear only into Hashem it can free us and liberate us from all other fears should hear only bosos yeshu living with amuna in 15 minutes