Posts Tagged: Hillel the Elder

“Take Care!”

On May 16, 2020 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“Take care!”

It’s a common expression. But what (or who) are we supposed to care of?Are we supposed to take care of ourselves? Business? Others? The world?

According to a good friend of mine, the answer is, “Yes!” In fact, he suggested to me that we don’t necessarily need to choose between these forms of taking care of. One of us proposed that we simply say, “Take care!”

Of course, there are problems with taking care. Sometimes, it shades off into becoming care-takers in an unhealthy, co-dependent way. As with anything, when it is taken to its logical extreme, “care” becomes just plain extreme. All logic (and indeed all sanity) gets thrown right out of the window when “care” becomes a codeword for slavery.

But care, when it is healthy, is always a good thing. And it is all of one piece. How can I take care of someone else or the world when I am not taking care of myself? And if I am only caring for myself, I become isolated and self-involved. I become a person all wrapped up in myself. And, as someone has said, “A man who is all wrapped up in himself becomes a very small package.”

A great Jewish teacher, Hillel the Elder, said,

“If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

And if I am only for myself, what am I?

And if not now, when?”

So, just for today, my wish for you and for myself is one and the same:

Take care!

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