Causes of Self-Induced Suffering, Part 3
In many cases, some form of suffering is a flashing yellow light from Heaven, warning us to take corrective action against our arrogant tendencies.
In many cases, some form of suffering is a flashing yellow light from Heaven, warning us to take corrective action against our arrogant tendencies.
6. Lack of Trust in God
A lack of trust in God indicates a lack of spiritual development. A neglected, undeveloped soul remains dormant at best. Normally, those who lack trust in God develop an inclination for wrongdoing, anger, and inner turbulence.
Case study: Robert Bond, a route salesman for one of the beverage companies, fell into financial difficulties. Working honestly, he averaged about sixty thousand dollars annually. He estimated that another fifteen thousand dollars per year would bail him out of his financial straits. Bond rationalized that an honest salesman can’t get ahead in the world. The nagging little voice of his greedy evil inclination harped, “God is giving you sixty grand. You need seventy-five, pal. God’s laws are too restricting. Take the law into your own hands!”
The store owners on Bond’s route considered him trustworthy. Sometimes, when they were extremely busy, they’d accept their new beverage deliveries without counting the cases too closely. Bond took advantage of the situation and began billing his customers for stock that they never received. The more he stole, the more he developed an appetite for stealing.
Once, Bond delivered an eighty case order to a large supermarket, but billed them for ninety cases. He knew that the department manager was lax in checking him. What he didn’t know was that the chain store’s detective was on the premises that particular day.
The detective caught Bond red-handed. The supermarket chain threatened to prosecute. The beverage company hushed the matter, appeased the supermarket chain with a considerable sum of money, and fired Bond on the spot. Bond forfeited twenty years of severance pay and benefits to stay out of jail.
For a week, Bond faked the flu. Once he became fed up with sitting at home, he told his wife that he left his job.
Mrs. Bond didn’t understand why her husband left such a fine, secure job after twenty years with no severance pay. When she called the sales manger of the beverage company, Bond’s direct superintendent, she discovered the real reason. Subsequently, Bond became the object of incessant verbal abuse from his wife. Their marriage is deteriorating.
Epilogue: At the time of this writing, Bond[1] is still unemployed, and wastes valuable hours in idleness. He’s angry and depressed, yet he refuses to accept spiritual counseling. He is solely responsible for his own suffering.
7. Flattery
Flattery does not mean telling your wife that she looks beautiful in her new dress, or complimenting her on the delicious dinner when really it was no more than mediocre. Flattery means telling an evil person how wonderful he or she is.
The prophet Yishayahu (Isaiah) says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, to those who put darkness as light and light as darkness, to those who put sour as sweet and sweet as sour” (Yishayahu 5:20).
Case study: Joan Anderson[2] was the personal secretary of the vice-president of a major British banking firm.
When the president of the bank announced his imminent retirement, a covert power struggle began between the vice president and the chief operating officer (COO). The vice president was an individual of honor, willing to let his professional accomplishments speak for themselves. The chief operating officer was a heartless conniver, thirsty for power at all costs.
Joan listened attentively to the whispering in the corridors. Most of the senior employees believed that the COO would be appointed the new president, because of his forcefulness. She concluded that the COO was the favored candidate, on whom she’d place her bet.
Joan’s lust for advancement led her to arrange a clandestine luncheon with the COO. She told him what a wonderful man she thinks he is, and in exchange for the promise that she would be his personal secretary when he became president, she would plant insidious rumors about her current boss’s qualifications. The COO agreed to the deal with no hesitation.
During the coming weeks, Joan neglected her own desk in the vice-president’s office. She spent extensive time in the COO’s office, both during office hours and after hours. She already considered herself the presidential secretary, and thereby succeeded in alienating several of her coworkers.
Joan’s plan backfired. News of intrigue and unethical conduct on behalf of the COO reached the ears of the chairman of the board. He and the other members of the board quickly concluded that the vice president was the better candidate.
On the eve of the new fiscal year, the board of directors announced that the vice-president had been appointed president of the bank. The COO was advised to honorably resign with pay and benefits. The new president promoted a talented secretary from the foreign exchange department as his personal secretary, while Miss Joan Anderson, demoted to licking envelopes in the mailroom, became the joke of the bank.
8. Arrogance
Shlomo HaMelech (King Solomon) says, “Arrogance precedes downfall” (Mishle 16:18). This ever-so-brilliant statement serves as a mold for all of history.
Pharaoh, ruler of Egypt, the world’s superpower of 3,400 years ago, considered himself a deity. His arrogance reached a new pinnacle when he declared, “Who is God that I should pay attention to Him?” (Shemot 5:2). That hapless expression triggered the subsequent downfall of Egypt.
The list of arrogant tyrants who ruled great powers, yet suffered tragic downfall, is exhaustive. Shlomo HaMelech’s expression, “Arrogance precedes downfall,” demonstrates the timelessness and universality of truth. The previous generation witnessed the downfall of the Nazis, who had seized virtual control over all of Europe. This generation has witnessed with its own eyes the downfall of the Communists in the USSR, who for seventy years trampled human rights and put millions to their death.
On a personal level, arrogance creates a barrier between a person’s soul and God. Such a barrier blocks out Divine light. With no Divine light, a person can’t possibly achieve inner peace.
Arrogance is the key symptom of an angry and an unhealthy soul. If the arrogant person mends his haughty ways, his Divine soul recuperates and his spiritual life improves. But, if a person continues in the stubborn path of arrogance, his life becomes increasingly miserable. An arrogant person is never happy.
God wants us to be happy. He therefore sends us warning signals whenever we display arrogance. In many cases, some form of suffering is a flashing yellow light from Heaven, warning us to take corrective action against our arrogant tendencies.
To be continued…
(The Trail to Tranquility is available in the Breslev Store.)
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[1] Name changed, but circumstance unfortunately quite real.
[2] The author heard this story from one of “Joan Anderson’s” coworkers at the bank. Names and circumstances changed for obvious reasons.
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