Life has its roller coaster moments. Sometimes, it can be really good and other times really bad. Feast and then famine. It's just one of those things. Family and friends can be loyal and supportive or demeaning and difficult to deal with. Money can be a beast whether you have a lot or a little. Work can be hell or heaven. There are so many things.
How do you find peace in the midst of life's many storms?
This week we're checking out Vayikra 3 (Hebrew Book of Leviticus Chapter 3). It's an interesting chapter that focuses on what's involved in giving a peace offering. In Hebrew spirituality, the book of Leviticus which was written by the Hebrew patriarch Moses centers on the ordinances concerning wellness and health for the mind, body and spirit. Before even getting into dietary and household regulations, the book begins with outlining the proper way to give offerings and sacrifices of various kinds. It starts out with the spirit and mind aspects first before tackling the body/outward things. That's an important principle to remember when it comes to anything to do with your health and wellness. Your health, your wellness and your peace comes from the inside and then expresses itself outwardly. So if you're not well or at peace inside, then you won't find that health and peace on the outside.
As we've mentioned before in our first two spiritual meditations, the Hebrew culture of the Bible was and is centered on an agrarian/rural life - Hebrew spirituality is not just a religion and a list of does and don'ts...it's a way of life.
So, in a nutshell, here it is. When you offer a peace offering, it can be a male or female animal and has to be without blemish. The animals for peace offerings are cattle, sheep and goats. The rule is you lay your hand on the head of the animal whether it's from your cattle, a lamb or a goat and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then, the priests sprinkle the blood of the animal on the altar.
What's interesting is that after that is done..the fat that covers the entrails, the kidneys and the liver have to be removed and that is then burned on the altar. The last statement in the chapter is that you should not eat fat or blood of an animal.
The key to decoding Hebrew metaphysics is actually quite simple when you look at the process. What are you actually doing when you offer a peace offering? What animals are you killing? Those symbolize aspects of yourself and what is being put on the altar?
What is a peace offering? Well...life is tough...there are ups and downs in everyone's life and by extension that means there are conflicts involved. You can fight with your spouse, fight with family, fight with friends, fight with yourself and fight with God. Fighting can involve turmoil, heated arguments, even bloodshed. So the peace offering is about making peace, bringing harmony back into your world after there has been conflict, disagreements and tension.
So to bring about peace, you have to kill/stop the conflict. You have to deal with the source of the conflict and end it. That's the whole reason why according to the ordinance you lay your hand on the animal you are sacrificing outside the tabernacle of meeting. It's also especially significant when you look at the animals. A lamb for example is an animal that is "timid, easily panicked, vulnerable to enemies, has little discernment and needs a lot of attention and care." Goats are intelligent, curious and extremely stubborn, sometimes loners. Cattle - cows and steers - are social animals that develop strong bonds and rely on "safety in numbers."
If you look closely, you can see that there are 3 general types of situations that can cause conflict: 1) It could be a situation where you were frightened or someone took advantage and exploited you or hurt you unjustly 2) It could be a situation where someone is being hard-headed, difficult and stubborn 3) It could be a social situation where you a dealing with a "herd" mentality that is the source of the problem.
You have to get to the source of the conflict then kill it in front of the place where you come to meet. This tabernacle of meeting is the place you come to settle differences and the issue. You can't go inside God's house ie you can't find peace until you've identified what the cause of the conflict or disagreement or issue is.
Once that is done, the priest takes the fat from the kidneys and entrails and burns that on the altar to God. Why the fat and the kidneys? Fat is all the excess that we carry. The kidneys and entrails are organs that are used to clean up our excess and our excrement. So in another words, you take your "excrement," garbage and excess crap and you give it to God. You lay it on the altar and allow the Divine Creator to dispose of the crap thus bringing peace to the situation and to you.
Finding peace within yourself begins with taking a long hard look at what's causing conflict and disagreement in your life, then taking all the excess baggage and laying it on the altar for God to bring healing and the true peace that will resonate in every aspect of your life.
