spirituality

"I've liked photography since I was
a kid. After moving to Fox Run,
I began taking pictures around
campus, and now we've started a
Fox Run photography club."

4
Dealin g With Resentment

Parshat Vayigash: Genesis 44:18-
47:27; Ezekiel 37:15-28

T

hey say that carrying a
resentment against another
human being is like allowing
them to live in your head rent-free.
What a waste of valuable real estate.
None of us like having resentments,
but most of us do struggle with get-
ting rid of them. We have constant
reminders of the hurt that
so-and-so inflicted upon
us, how rude they were,
or how inconsiderate they
were to us, to our family
and to our friends.
No matter how much we
want to forgive and forget,
there is always a linger-
ing negative feeling in our
hearts toward those who
have hurt us.
In this week's Torah por-
tion, Joseph tells his broth-
ers that his heart is clean of
all resentment toward them
despite the fact that they plotted to
kill him and sold him into slavery out
of hatred. Joseph states that despite all
of these facts, he does not assign his
trials and tribulations to any choices
that his brothers made, rather that
these events were part of God's plan
for him and for the world.
Therefore, not only does he not
have any hate or resentment toward
them, in fact, he is grateful for the
chain of events that brought him to be
of service.
How do we get rid of the resent-
ment for those who have done us
harm? When we realize that people
do not have any control over how we
live our lives or what happens to us.
Our lives are guided by God's plan for
us, and no one else has the power to
interfere with those plans.
For example, if I am in a car
accident, there are logical, critical
reasons why and how it happened
that involved other people's choices,
both intentional and unintentional.
However, without God's approval, the
accident would not have happened,
no matter what those people did and

did not do. When I assign the blame
for the accident on those people, I am
declaring that they are the ones that
have Godly power over me. In truth,
no one has power over me besides a
loving, kind and compassionate God.
Although it may seem to me that
God's plan for me is unpleasant and
bad, the truth of the mat-
ter is that we believe in a
good God, and just like
for Joseph, being sold and
thrown in jail seemed like
a bad thing, it turned out
to be a good thing. He was
not resentful to his broth-
ers, but he was grateful to
God. For through those
unwanted events, he was
able to be in a position
where he could be helpful
to his community, his fam-
ily and an entire country.
Consider this: Go to
your backyard and find little rocks.
Pick five or 10 that would fit in your
pocket or in your purse. Start carry-
ing them around wherever you go.
After a while, the rocks will weigh
on you and will start feeling heavy
and become a burden on your body.
Contemplate how each one of those
rocks represents a resentment that
you carry around. Consider the psy-
chological, emotional and physical
harm that resentments are causing
you.
But you need to keep carrying these
rocks around until you are ready to
give up on your resentments. So you
have a choice. You can either stick
to your theory of assigning events in
your life to the choices of other people
and resenting them, or you can accept
that everything that happens in your
life is for a reason, a good reason.
When your mind is at ease with
this idea, you have the capacity to let
go of all resentments and are ready to
get rid of the rocks in your pocket.

❑

__ .... —

\,„,,

_0\14\ ■ \\ \ !,

_ .

—Fox Run resident Dr. Leonard Stein

•

Living at Fox Run in Novi, Dr. Leonard Stein has time to

work full-time as an optometrist and develop his eye for

photography. Since dining, maintenance and 24-hour security

are all handled by our expert full-time staff, Fox Run residents

have more energy and opportunity to pursue their passions.

Fox Run is a great place for seniors who enjoy an active lifestyle.

Learn more about independent
retirement living at Fox Run in Novi.
Call 1-800-989-0293 today for
your free brochure.

erirASOIL

LIVING

Fox Run

Add more Living to your Life®

Novi

Rabbi Yisrael Pinson is director of Chabad

of Greater Downtown Detroit.

EricksonLiving.com

1885190

December 25 • 2014

33