Genesis, Chapter 31, verse 31
Jacob answered Laban, 'I was
afraid, thinking you were going to snatch your daughters from me.
According
to Kabalistic sources[i] Laban was a
powerful man. Laban was a magi and the
whole world feared him. Jacob feared him too, and that was why he fled from
Laban in the middle of the night with his wives Rachel and Leah. Laban had
cheated Jacob many times but in spite of Laban’s sly tricks God had ensured
that Jacob prospered. Jacob feared Laban but when the Lord said to him, “Go
back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, I will be with you”, he
did so, but in secret. It is natural to fear powerful men or women who can do
us grave harm. What does a person do who finds themselves afraid of powerful,
selfish and perhaps evil people? Naturally your choices are you can either fight,
run, do nothing, come to a compromise or grow by developing a third alternative
as described by the late Dr. Steven Covey[ii]. That is to
come to a solution that is better than Jacob or Laban in this example, could
have come up on their own. In this case
God intervened for Jacob by coming to Laban in a dream warning him not to harm
Jacob and as a result both Laban and Jacob came up with a solution that was
better than they separately had in mind; and parted as friends. Next time you
are faced with fear; resist the
temptation to react in the classic fight or flight method and try to discover a
way for everyone to win. That is not always possible but that should be your
goal.
According to the almanac
today we are having a Full Wolf Moon; plan to get with your children or
grandchildren around a fire and howl a little at the moon having fun together.
Also you could sit down together and listen to the music from Peter and the Wolf. As a child this was
one of my favorite record albums that I would make my mother play over and over
again much to her distress.
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