Redemption means they were free from constraints. When all of our fears and concerns are go, our song flows freely from within.
Have you ever composed a song? Have you ever thought of composing a song? I have thought about but have not yet done it. The idea of composing a new song is very enticing to me. I’ll tell you why. Truly great songs aren’t really composed. They flow. When we get into a certain state, we create the possibility for there to be a surge of energy which starts flowing from deep within us. If you know what I’m talking about it’s probably because you’ve experienced it in some form. If you think I’m getting a bit too far out there, hang on and I’ll explain.
I’ve experienced this when I prepare speeches. Usually, preparing a speech requires some good effort. I have to work, think and research. Then I need to reorganize the ideas and find ways to make sure it’s relevant. Sometimes I’m lucky. I become impassioned by an idea that resonates deeply within me and a speech starts flowing out of me and I just write down notes. This is one example of what I mean by composing a new song.
I think one of the biggest mistakes we make in life is when we go about creating a purpose for ourselves. We were each created with a distinct purpose. It’s only that it requires the courage of a real man and sometimes a good number of years to discover it. So, instead of standing up to the challenge, we simply create a new purpose for ourselves. It’s something we can then choose, it’s easier and it doesn’t require us to step up like a man.
You see, it’s actually easier to spend years and years in school to learn to become a doctor, lawyer, Rabbi or whatever, then to discover our unique purpose. Why? Because what’s necessary to discover our purpose is to let our spirit soar free. To remove all our fears and inhibitions, our insecurities and hesitations and to let it rip, as they say. And we all know that in any and every arena, the ones who stand high above the rest on not necessarily the most talented ones or the smartest ones. They are the ones who know how to let go so their spirit leads, not letting room for anything to stop them from being who they are. It doesn’t make a difference if they’re a spiritual leader, a sports player or a businessman. It’s when our spirit becomes liberated that we begin singing a new song, our song, the one song we are meant to sing.
One of the most inspiring passages in my daily morning prayers are these words, “With a new song, the redeemed people praised Your great name at the edge of the sea.” Oh, how I love this passage and oh how I struggle with it. After the Jewish people crossed the sea which G-d split for them, seven days after having left Egypt, the broke out into song. Their experience was so powerful that it exposed a very deep part of themselves. So they sang, but not just any song, they sang a new song. A song the world never heard before. They were able to do this because they were redeemed. Redemption means they were free from constraints. When all of our fears and concerns are go, our song flows freely from within.
This passage is so meaningful to me because I yearn to sing a new song. I yearn to find the ability to let go of myself when I am speaking to others so that I am not busy tripping over myself but rather fully consumed in them. I yearn to express my wants to others without dressing up my words and disguising what I’m trying to ask for but rather speaking with full truth and transparency, letting go of the fears of rejections. I yearn to do those things I believe I should be doing even while knowing that some might stand in judgment of me or flat out disagree with my choice without fear of what they’ll think of me. I yearn to become more and more free of my inner inhibitions so my song can be sung with ever more notes. I yearn for the day when my song flows so freely that I don’t even recognize it because I never heard it so freely expressed. I yearn to join my brethren who sang their song at the sea.
It’s no wonder this all occurred at the sea. Water covers everything within it. Dry land leaves everything exposed. The symbolism of the splitting sea is the direction we must take to be able to sing our new song. When we let our deeper and truer self become exposed, no longer covered by the waters of fear, we suddenly discover our deeper self, exposed and revealed to ourselves and to the rest of the universe. It is at such a moment that we have begun to live up to who we were made to be.
Discover your song, sing at the top of your lungs because this is the sing we are all waiting to hear you sing.