Day 210 Approaching the Darkness, Yikes!

Dear friends,

David is watching "Prince of Egypt" on DVD. To me, this Dreamworks animated version of the Exodus story is good, but no match for Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments", with the great Charlton Heston as a larger than life Moses. Of course the real Moses did loom pretty large, and still does thousands of years after the events depicted in the movies. Smitty took the name Moses as a confirmation name way back when, so enchanted was he with the character and gusto of this great man of God. How about this scripture that lets us peek not only into the heart of Moses, but his parents also:

"By faith, Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict..."
Hebrews 11:23

You could dissect the story of Moses, and the character of the man for a hundred years, and still have something left to say. But I wonder what it was like to be him. How did he handle all that power and remain a humble man? Was it crushing sometimes to think of the impossible duty before him, to lead millions of people accustomed to slavery into the desert and on to Canaan? And what was is like to actually see God, even if only from the back? Anyway, I ramble. But here's what I really want to share with you about the mighty spokesman of God. This is my top favorite thing about Moses, and something I know God wanted to show me.

"When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses "Speak to us yourself, and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die." Moses said to the people "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning". The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was." Exodus 20:18-21

Here's what I absolutely cherish about this part of the story - Moses put aside his fears to go into the thick darkness, where God was. He knew his God well enough to trust Him, and was so compelled by the Ultimate Personality, that nothing could stop him from a relationship with The Loving Mystery. I truly believe that the dark, difficult places are simmering with the mercy and grace of the Great One. I watched as many of you entered into my darkest hour, unafraid to grip my sorrow with me, and I have asked God many, many times to help me run into places of grief, and mental illness, and disaster despite my trembling knees. I have found when I press past the fear of the unknown, the Great One is always there with an excess of grace. I stumble and trip many times in my effort to enter the darkness with my fellow man, but Moses is my shining example. And you all have been too. Again I must thank you for putting aside your "not knowing what to do or say" in order to simply love me and mine. We all got to see the Red Sea part too, didn't we? Amen.

By the way, I ventured out with a new recipe tonite, and everyone ate it. (That's as miraculous as the water from a rock, believe me!) It was called Chicken Osso Buco, a skinnied up version of the Italian classic normally made with veal. It was very yum! I was also much relieved to finish up on the details of David's 6th grade overnight field trip this week. I started planning the whole thing back in October, and got a little sidetracked in November...

Be blessed, friends, And if this stretch of the highway is dark and shadowy, fear not! We'll miss too much if we stay at a distance...

Your friend on the pilgrim road,

Loriann