Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. This is the Shema, the central prayer of Jewish life for thousands of years. Everything depends on this foundation: there is one God. Not many. One. And He is your God.
In my comparative religion class in seminary, we learned how radical this was in the polytheistic ancient world. One God. Not multiple gods with different interests and domains. One God with one unified character.
What's grabbed me more recently is what flows from this. If there's only one God, then everything is ultimately under His authority. Your work, your family, your politics, your money - all of it answers to one God. That's simultaneously liberating and demanding. Liberating because you only have one Master, so the conflicting demands of multiple masters stops. Demanding because you can't compartmentalize. You can't have your Sunday God and your workplace God and your relationship God. There's just God.
That's why the Shema becomes a lens for your entire life. The rabbis taught that every action should be done in light of the oneness of God. How does this choice honor the unity of God? How does this action reflect that He is one and He is mine?
I pray the Shema now, slowly, and let it reshape what I think I want.
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