Completely exposed and absolutely secure

Rabbi Ammos Chorny

Among the Americans we all ought to know is Howard Thurman, who cofounded San Francisco's Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, the first integrated interfaith religious congregation in the United States in 1944 and, in 1953, became first Black dean of Marsh Chapel, a mostly white American university, mentoring, among many others, Martin Luther King, Jr. His insights are timeless. He was a Christian and a Black man. And, like other remarkable believers, he managed to translate his deep personal faith into teachings that were meaningful to all.

Recently, I have spent some time studying writings from some whose names most would recognize as important and responsible public figures. An interesting feature about this collective is that, for the most part, they are not Jewish, not that it would matter! They speak about the rich landscape within, which too often goes unexplored in the commotion of their calling to service. In many cases, they have used, to great effect, some of Thurman’s words.

Here is the quotation most used from an address Thurman delivered near the end of his life at Spelman College, entitled “The Sound of the Genuine.”

“There is something in you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in other people. And if you can’t hear it, then you are reduced by that much. If I were to ask you what is the thing that you desire most in life this afternoon, you would say a lot of things off the top of your head, most of which you wouldn’t believe but you would think that you were saying the things that I thought you ought to think that you should say. But I think that if you were stripped to whatever there is in you that is literal and irreducible, and you tried to answer that question, the answer may be something like this: ‘I want to feel that I am thoroughly and completely understood so that now and then I can take my guard down and look out around me and not feel that I will be destroyed with my defenses down. I want to feel completely vulnerable, completely naked, completely exposed and absolutely secure.’”

“…I want to feel completely vulnerable, completely naked, completely exposed and absolutely secure.”
~ HowardThurman

As a pulpit rabbi, I carry the important responsibility of constantly writing and delivering sermons, but particularly during the sacred High Holy Day season. With the arrival of the mid-summer heat, I tend to ask myself what message I need to prepare. In my younger years, that message may have had to do with matters of politics. Somewhat less often, I’ve felt compelled to defend the particularity of Jewish life, likely a reflection of my own insecurities. These days, my messages are different. It would be akin to what the grandson of a slave sought to convey to the promising generation of proud and educated younger versions of himself.

As I expect to be facing my congregation during this time of repentance and look at the assembly of those who have committed some part of three full days articulating their contrition and their intention to live a better life, I think I must also urge them to be less concerned about ticking off a list of shortcomings and aspirations. Yet, we should not do away with them; the fact is that the liturgy — recited in the company of others — is the key this tradition affords us to open the channels of introspection without being swept away by the fear of self-humiliation.

But the real goal of the Days of Awe must be what Howard Thurman was brave enough to articulate: “I want to feel that I am thoroughly and completely understood so that now and then I can take my guard down and look out around me and not feel that I will be destroyed with my defenses down. I want to feel completely vulnerable, completely naked, completely exposed and absolutely secure.”

The assurance that any good faith tradition brings is that if you have the courage to be completely exposed, you will nonetheless be absolutely secure. You will be loved, not in the sense of admired or adored, but affirmed for who you really are. And if you do not profess a faith in some locus of wisdom or power outside yourself, then what you must expect from your most cherished relationships is no different

If you will be in synagogue, actually or virtually, in the weeks ahead, I wish success for you in this endeavor. If not, I wish success for you wherever you find it.

Shanna Tova!

Rabbi Ammos Chorny serves at Beth Tikvah.