(from The Book of Samuel) And Hannah bore a son and called his name ‘Samuel’ saying: “because I have borrowed him from the Lord”.
In that terse phrase, “I have borrowed him from the Lord” is contained a whole philosophy of life. Our attitudes, our values, our whole way of living would change if we understood that not only our children, but all we have – our health, our talents, our lives – are all borrowed.
Sooner or later, we must learn that all we have is on loan, and that we are borrowers from life. Even before we were born, we borrowed from our mothers some of their vitality, the very marrow of their bones, the calcium of their bodies; and ever since, we have borrowed from life. We borrow resources from the earth, light from the sun, beauty from the skies, fragrance from the flowers, truth from the universe. We borrow from each other. The merchant and the customer, the teacher and the student, the performer and the audience, the rabbi and the congregation – we are all indebted to each other.
We have borrowed our system of numbers from the Arabs, our alphabet from the Phoenicians, our legal system from the Romans, our art from the Greeks, our opera from the Italians.
Borrowing so much, we must repay with much. Borrowing from life, we must repay by ennobling existence. Borrowing love, we must repay with thought-fulness. Borrowing beauty, we must repay with care. Borrowing from other cultures, we must repay with respect. The whole structure of society rests upon goods and gifts mutually exchanged.
Hannah understood this truth. When she got a child at last, she ack-nowledged that her child was a loan; and she resolved to pay back – willingly, generously, nobly. May we do as she did. If we do, our lives on this earth will be worthwhile.
