Ever feel like you're working hard, studying, striving... but still feel like you're on the outside looking in? Like there's a deeper level of understanding you just can't quite grasp?
The ancient sages grappled with this very idea. They saw two paths to wisdom, two types of people who approached the divine. And Philo, that brilliant Jewish philosopher from Alexandria, writing in the 1st century CE, captured it beautifully in his Midrash.
Imagine a will, a testament. Some are designated heirs, right? They're naturally entitled to the inheritance. But others are mentioned too – people worthy of gifts, presents, things given by the heirs themselves. Philo uses this image to explain two ways of approaching God.
He says that the "heir" in God's testament is the person who is "by nature a worthy disciple of God, being adorned with all perfect virtues." Sounds intimidating, doesn't it? But what Philo is getting at is this: Some people seem to have an innate connection, a natural inclination toward the divine. They're attuned to it. It's in their very being. They are born with a pure soul.
But what about the rest of us? What about those who struggle, who learn, who strive to understand? Philo says that this person, "who is introduced by learning, and is made subject to the law of wisdom, and partakes in encyclical instruction, is not at all an heir, but only a receiver of gifts gratuitously given."
Ouch.
But wait! Don't despair. It's not a put-down. It's an observation. It means that while we might not be "natural heirs," we can still receive incredible gifts. These gifts are given freely, "gratuitously," as Philo says. They're not earned in the same way, but they're still valuable, still transformative.
And then Philo brings in a beautiful image: the birth of Isaac. He says, "it is said with great wisdom and propriety that his mother shall bring forth Isaac in the succeeding year, since this birth unto life does not belong to the present time, but to another great and holy time."
What does that mean? Well, think about Sarah. She was old, barren. The birth of Isaac was a miracle, a gift beyond all expectation. Philo suggests that true spiritual birth, true understanding, often comes when we least expect it. It's not necessarily tied to our immediate efforts or achievements. It emerges in "another great and holy time." It is something that is beyond the logical.
And finally, Philo reminds us, "that which is divine rejoices in excessive abundance, and is by no means like the nations of this world." The divine isn't stingy. It's not limited. It overflows with generosity.
So, where does that leave us? Maybe we're not all "heirs" in the strictest sense. Maybe we have to work a little harder, study a little longer, struggle a little more to connect with the divine. But the gifts are there, waiting to be received. And the potential for spiritual birth, for miraculous understanding, is always present. So, keep learning, keep striving, and keep your heart open to the abundance that awaits. Who knows when your "succeeding year" will arrive?