For kindness is Yours, O God, when You compensate each person according to his actions (Psalms 62:13). In our productivity-oriented society, we tend to place value on the product rather than on the process. Success is praised and failure is condemned, and we have little interest in the circumstances under which others function. This attitude might be justified in the marketplace, since commerce lives by the bottom line. Still, our preoccupation with commerce should not influence us to think that peoples successes and failures should be the yardsticks for how we value them. God does not judge according to outcome. God knows that people have control only over what they do, not over the results. Virtue or sin are determined not by what materializes, but by what we do and why. Since the Torah calls on us to walk in His ways, to emulate God as best we can, we would do well to have a value system so that we judge people by their actions, not their results. This system should be applied to ourselves as well. We must try to do our utmost according to the best ethical and moral guidance we can obtain. When we do so, our behavior is commendable, regardless of the results of our actions. Today I shall...try to be considerate of others and of myself as well, and realize that none of us is in control of the outcome of our actions, only of their nature.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 22:15:00 +0000
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