Addiction = slavery. We all struggle with becoming “addicted” (to some degree or another) with things that help us deal with the harsh realities of life (we live, we die, we do not know why). Drugs, alcohol, pornography, food, computers, reading …. I could go on and on and on. Anything that can be done in this world, in my view, can be done in an addictive way. When it becomes addictive: 1) there is a compulsive nature to it, a feeling that one cannot live without it; 2) other priorities start to be pushed aside; 3) it becomes an escape from reality; and 4) it often leads to a whole secondary set of problems (cirrhosis, obesity, divorce, etc).
Addiction is like slavery because we have lost control of our own lives. And we have lost our way and no longer are “centered” in ourselves and centered with our Creator.
This week, the plagues begin. On one level, I think the plagues told a newly-founded group of Jews over 2,000 years ago that their God was the real, true and/or best God. “I will show the Pharaoh’s Gods, that I am the one, true, kick-ass God!”
However, that is not an answer that does much for me today. I already hope and believe that my Torah is talking about the one true Source, and we already won that battle!
So I am trying to read the Exodus story, a story about escaping from slavery, as a story about Escaping From Addiction. Moving from fear to love. Moving from avoiding reality to dealing truthfully with reality.
In this view, what are the plagues? I think the plagues represent the painful truths that the addictions are meant to avoid. Perhaps we have hurt someone we loved. Perhaps we have not lived up to our own dreams or plans. Perhaps we have never really faced the prospect of death in any serious way. Perhaps we have never stopped running the rat-race long enough to ponder “what it is all about.”
The plagues are the pain we have been avoiding. It hurts, it is dark and scary, but at the end there is light and hope.
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