Independent Thought and Freewill
Free-will means choosing, not reacting.
I would venture to say that for most people, the first block towards growth is if they don't yet know how to think for themselves. They know how to react, they have patterns they feel comfortable with, but they are not necessarily able to choose their reactions. They are a bit pre-programmed, unfortunately.
When we allow our bodies to rule us, we lose to that same extent our ability to think clearly, unbiasedly, and objectively. We tend to become selfish, consuming what we want when we want, without too much thought about the consequences.
The greatness of being human is that we can think for ourselves. There is no personal value higher than this, for it is the very basis of our free-will.
"Free" will is not the freedom of preferring one thing to another, and it is not only choosing to act, or not act. Freewill includes the forming of abstract goals, the seeking of complex accomplishment, the planning of life, as it were.
Free will depends upon the ability to contemplate a number of courses of action (minimum two) and the consequences of said actions. Free will is the ability to choose one or the other based upon a realistic understanding of their consequences. At the moment a person is incapacitated in their choice, they are not acting with free-will. Spiritually, they are inert.
Free will is the centre of human power. All of our creativity comes alive within it, and we are able to do great things with that power. We need to centre our minds and use our free will when it comes to Rosh Hashanah. Because it is the day when we make the choice in our lives to stand for the Good and be counted among those who stand with the Creator.
I would venture to say that for most people, the first block towards growth is if they don't yet know how to think for themselves. They know how to react, they have patterns they feel comfortable with, but they are not necessarily able to choose their reactions. They are a bit pre-programmed, unfortunately.
When we allow our bodies to rule us, we lose to that same extent our ability to think clearly, unbiasedly, and objectively. We tend to become selfish, consuming what we want when we want, without too much thought about the consequences.
The greatness of being human is that we can think for ourselves. There is no personal value higher than this, for it is the very basis of our free-will.
"Free" will is not the freedom of preferring one thing to another, and it is not only choosing to act, or not act. Freewill includes the forming of abstract goals, the seeking of complex accomplishment, the planning of life, as it were.
Free will depends upon the ability to contemplate a number of courses of action (minimum two) and the consequences of said actions. Free will is the ability to choose one or the other based upon a realistic understanding of their consequences. At the moment a person is incapacitated in their choice, they are not acting with free-will. Spiritually, they are inert.
Free will is the centre of human power. All of our creativity comes alive within it, and we are able to do great things with that power. We need to centre our minds and use our free will when it comes to Rosh Hashanah. Because it is the day when we make the choice in our lives to stand for the Good and be counted among those who stand with the Creator.