The devil is in the details. We’ve all heard it said so often. Less frequently heard, the original formulation was that God is in the details. Both are true!
How? Why is it details can be sources of sacred insight and wisdom, yet also sources of hellish frustration? How can even the same details be absurd picayune minutiae sometimes, and fascinating particulars at other times?
According to some wisdom traditions, details are the very things which we are meant to rise above. And yet, according to others, they are the very things into which people should immerse themselves, if they hope to discover genuine wisdom.
The answer comes down to two words: perspective and personal connection. When dealing with details causes a disconnected feeling (a loss of perspective), they become hellish distractions from whatever it is we believe really matters. However, when we can link the details in our life to the big picture – whatever that means for us?- those details are precisely where we find God (or whatever you might mean by God).
Why is it that details can be sources of sacred insight and wisdom, yet also sources of hellish frustration?
For example: You’ve woken up early to make sandwiches for the kids who forgot, again, to do so the night before. Whether we experience God or the devil in such moments depends upon the extent to which we connect our task (spreading PB and J on bread) to the practice of unconditional love, and our willingness to forgive the kids’ lack of responsibility.
In this case, what’s true for family rituals will be equally true for everything else, from sports to spirituality. Do we have the perspective to connect life’s little details to the larger picture? If so, we know who we will find. If we aren’t in touch with that perspective, we know that answer, too.
The personal part of this is even easier: When the details are ours, truly ours, and not experienced as demands imposed upon us, we tend to think of them as good, or even Godly. Of course, when the exact same detail is seen as somebody else’s, giving it our attention can feel ridiculous. Our details are necessary, but the other guys? Can’t we just give them some OCD meds and tell them to stop worrying about the “small stuff”?
Of course, were that same “small stuff” seen as “our stuff,” it would be worth moving heaven and earth for. Whether one imagines finding the “little red guy from the hot place” or the “big guy who lives upstairs” when managing the many endless details of daily life, both phrases reflect this fact: It is in working through the details of things that we can discover a rather profound insight and wisdom?- about ourselves, about the task we’re doing, and sometimes about whomever we’re doing it with.
If we can connect to the small-scale details as a kind of work that is truly our own, linking us to our larger values or purpose, then those devilish details are where we may find God.
Yes, both God and the devil are in the details. As so often is the case, it’s up to us to decide who we find.
Listed for many years in Newsweek as one of America’s “50 Most Influential Rabbis” and recognized as one of our nation’s leading “Preachers and Teachers,” by Beliefnet.com, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield serves as the President of Clal–The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a training institute, think tank, and resource center nurturing religious and intellectual pluralism within the Jewish community, and the wider world, preparing people to meet the biggest challenges we face in our increasingly polarized world.
An ordained Orthodox rabbi who studied for his PhD and taught at The Jewish Theological Seminary, he has also taught the University of Pennsylvania, where he directs an ongoing seminar, and American Jewish University. Rabbi Brad regularly teaches and consults for the US Army and United States Department of Defense, religious organizations — Jewish and Christian — including United Seminary (Methodist), Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (Modern Orthodox) Luther Seminary (Lutheran), and The Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative) — civic organizations including No Labels, Odyssey Impact, and The Aspen Institute, numerous Jewish Federations, and a variety of communal and family foundations.
Hirschfield is the author and editor of numerous books, including You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism, writes a column for Religion News Service, and appears regularly on TV and radio in outlets ranging from The Washington Post to Fox News Channel. He is also the founder of the Stand and See Fellowship, which brings hundreds of Christian religious leaders to Israel, preparing them to address the increasing polarization around Middle East issues — and really all currently polarizing issues at home and abroad — with six words, “It’s more complicated than we know.”