Day 25: מַּכִּיר אֶת מְקוֹמוֹ / Knowing one's place
The notion of one's place is peculiar, because place can connote both the static and the dynamic.
Knowing my place might gesture to the essential qualities and mission that are unique to me. My place is my unique role in this world.
Knowing my place might also mean understanding the journey that I am on. Pirkei Avot instructs, "Know from where you come, and where you are going, and before whom you are destined to give an account and reckoning" (Pirkei Avot 3:3). Knowing my place means tracking my growth and investing in that process.
Crucially, the above quote continues with the mention of knowing before whom you stand. One of God's names is המקום, literally 'the Place.' Both understandings of knowing our place described above should be in the service of connecting to God. What is God's charge to each of us, and what is the path to get there?
Reflection:
How can we know our place, if it is theoretically both stable and evolving at the same time?
Do you believe that you have some unique role to play in this world?
Lived practice:
Find a moment today when you can think to yourself "I'm really supposed to be doing this."
