Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.

You know what the real problem with Humpty Dumpty was? He relied on the king’s horses and the king’s men to fix him. If Humpty Dumpty had tried to put himself together, he might have recovered from the damage of a great fall.

A man came to the Rabbi of Shiniv and asked that the Rabbi intercede and pray for him that he should be virtuous and not sin. The Rabbi closed his eyes as if in deep meditation, then said to him, “ I have successfully interceded for you and my prayers have been accepted. God is completely agreeable that you should be virtuous and not sin. The rest is up to you.”

There are indeed situations where we may require others to set us straight. We may need the skills of craftsmen or professionals to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. However, there is much that we can do to refine our character. While we may need guidance from others, we must do the work ourselves.

I recall that when I was a child I told my tutor, “I have no objection to being learned. If there was a machine that could put all the information into my head, I would be overjoyed. I just don’t want to spend time learning when I could be having fun with my friends.”

Unfortunately, there is no learning machine, nor is there any character-building machine. No one will do it for us, not even God. Learning and character building are things you must do for yourself.

Do make the effort. The rewards are great.