At a fancy party at the home of a wealthy individual in California recently, one of the waiters accidentally slipped and fell into the swimming pool. The owner was livid and after the poor waiter pulled himself out of the pool soaking wet she berated and belittled him for being such an idiot. After he walked away she turned to her son-in-law and said, “At least it was not one of the guests.”
When we witness such actions we are all shocked and upset by how mean spirited humans can be to each other. However, the truth is that many act in this way even if more subtly. The highest spiritual goal any of us can have is to regard all people equally–beggar and Prime Minster are accorded with the same level of respect and dignity. Indeed, the founder of the Chassidic Movement the Baal Shem Tov, once remarked that seeing all people as being equal is synonymous with reaching the highest level of spiritual development.
How do we reach this level? Isn’t it natural to see a wealthy and successful person as superior and therefore more worthy of our time? Is it not normal that the more important the person, the more time we want to give them?
Although this may be natural we must overcome the urge. I am always fascinated when I watch the President of the United States give the State of the Union Address. The room is packed with the most important and successful people in the United States. However in comparison to the President they are all equal.
This is the secret. If we recognize the Divine imminence, if we become cognizant of the fact that materialism is insignificant in comparison to the supremacy of the Divine, we will no longer attach importance to external attributes. The example the Kabbalists give is that a small flame pales into insignificance when it is in the presence of a mighty furnace.
When a human being recognizes that the Almighty is infinite and that all human beings are finite, even the greatest human being and their most valuable materialistic assets lose value. After all, in comparison to infinity, one and a trillion are equally insignificant.
Contemplating this simple fact is the key to becoming a decent human being. By internalizing this we will focus in on those faces that so many of us train ourselves to faze out. We will find ourselves making small talk with the janitor and becoming friends with the checkout clerk. We will take notice of our garbage collectors and treat the obnoxious colleague or subordinate at work with respect. And we will remember that in the final analysis we were all created in God’s image and as such are equal in His eyes.