Moses is still talking to God by the burning bush. I love how they hammer out exactly what it is that Moses is supposed to say to the Israelites .. okay, now WHO is it that I'm supposed to say sent me? God says, "I am who am".. or how about just "I am" . If I say those words of God "I am" it sounds like a mantra or a breath prayer. If I try to ignore what the words mean and just listen for the sound of "I am" ... I hear the brand name of a dog food. Oops, no, "Ehyeh asher ehyeh" that's the Hebrew translation ... which doesn't evoke anything solid either. My parents used to refer to individuals with exuberant egos as the "Great I Am". So, Moses says...and then you want me to tell them that we'll go tell the Egyptian king that we're leaving for a few days to go out into the desert to worship our god, and when the king says oh, no you won't then ? Then, says God, I will smote the Egyptians with all sorts of horrible things. Now, if this was the story, which was told years afterward as the Israelites sat around their dinner tables or camp fires, then this was their story. If I were to look back on events in my life, would I see God's hand at work?
Jesus says in today's gospel: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,and I will give you rest.... Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."
What I'm hearing in the readings in this moment: Let God be God.
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