You know when you have a brilliant realization and then realize that it’s so self-evident that there is no way you’re the first person to think of that? I had one of those moments.
“Sometimes it takes a chillul Hashem to finally motivate people to make a kiddush Hashem.”
That’s been rattling around in my head recently. As a smart friend pointed out, people “eventually” do what they think is right. Whether it turns out to be the right thing to do is always a debate. But I think that “eventually” is the key word. It seems that most people go for the easiest, laziest, less controversial, or most pleasurable action with no thought to what’s “right” or not. …Until they’re backed into a corner or some kind.
It may not be the most optimistic thought, but I think it’s an interesting one.
That's a really profound thought and something similar to something I read yesterday.
The author of the article was talking about what to do after you have inadvertently (or even on purpose) eaten non-kosher food. The author pointed out that if eating that non-kosher food spurs you to teshuva and to greater holiness by motivating you to change, then even the most non-kosher food can be elevated to holiness. (Please note that the author was not advocating people intentionally go out and eat treif, but was pointing out how to turn something negative that had already happened into a catalyst for positive change.)
I like to think that nothing is as black and white as it may seem on the surface and that even an act that looks to be only negative can have some good come from it. It's part of my worldview and part of how I can truly believe in a single G-d that encompasses all rather than the duality of good and evil forces fighting each other.
Or, as the Chassids I know put much more simply, "It is all good." 🙂