Emuna Daily

The following quote teaches an incredible lesson.  Make sure to take it all in.

“When a man has to rise from one [spiritual] level to the next, prior to his ascent, he must first undergo a descent.  The paradox is that the very purpose of the descent is the ascent.  From this you can see how much strength is required in the service of God.  Even when you fall or descend in any way, you must never allow yourself to be thrown off balance to the extent that you come to look down upon yourself or to hold yourself in contempt.  You should refuse to dwell on the matter even momentarily.  Regardless of what happens to you, in the end, you will find that all your descents will be turned into great ascents and achievements, because the purpose of the descent is the ascent.  This point needs a lot of emphasis because everybody who experiences a spiritual fall imagines that this idea was never intended to refer to his particular case.  He thinks it applies only to people on the highest plane who are perpetually climbing from level to level.  You should know and have faith that in truth all these words were spoken with even the worst and most insignificant of men in mind, because God is good to all.” ~ Rebbi Nachman in Lekutey Moharan

“People want to run away from where they are, to go to find their Jerusalem. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing there, make that a Jerusalem.” ~ Bringing Heaven Down to Earth by Tzvi Freeman