The person who worships God and Zeus—out of agnosticism—wants to split the difference. But you cannot split the difference between a life devoted to service and a life devoted to the deification of one’s own ego. Rashi shows us that the abstraction of only God is God can become tangible in our relationship to tradition. Through the observance of the Torah, study of the words of sages, prayer, sacrifice, and selfless deeds, we have a way of making God concrete. It’s not the concretion of an icon, but the realization that we ourselves are the conduit through which God becomes palpable. To put it in Buberian terms, there are times when we can serve to channel God for others, and times when others can serve to channel God for us. Often its hard to tell which is which. Is our hearkening to the prophet, the prophet channeling God, or us enabling the prophet to channel God through the gift of our awareness and deep listening?

– Zohar Atkins

Applies beyond faith.

Atkins, Zohar. Don’t Split the Difference. August 30, 2024. https://etzhasadeh.substack.com/p/dont-split-the-difference.