Holy Moses! What I love about the man is his meekness. Brought up in the royal household, but kills a man and runs for his life. Learns the name of God at the Burning Bush, but doesn’t flaunt it. Returns to court and steps up to the plate and leads God’s people even though he doesn’t want to. Crosses the Red Sea, defeats his enemies with a mighty miracle and just keeps moving on. Leads a rebellious people with patience that sometimes boils over, but still he intercedes before God for mercy for them. He meets God on the mountain, and his face is so radiant that he has to wear a veil.
Like Abraham, can you sense the littleness of Moses? He’s the mighty prophet, but he’s the quiet man. He just wants to mind his own business, when God calls him to great things. He’s often confused and full of self doubt, but still he follows God.
He’s the mystic in the desert, the man whose wounded heart is open to God. The searcher, the contemplative, the one who has learned to listen the Voice, the one who responds from the burning heart of Love with a burning heart of love.
Lovely, Father. Thank you.
I feel as though I’ve seen this picture somewhere before. Someone made the wonderful observation that the disk behind the burning bush with the Jewish word for “God”, Yaweh, resembled the Eucharist. 🙂 I love it.
Unfortunate illustration! lol It looks as if he has bunny ears coming from the top of his head.
The painting is by Jewish artist Marc Chagall. They aren’t bunny ears, but the artist’s representation of the rays of glory coming from Moses, which in early translations were called ‘horns’. Check out the famous sculpture of Moses by Michaelangelo to see Moses with horns.
Your description of Moses wanting to be small and unnoticed, but called by God to great things echoes in my heart. For fear of sounding above myself, I will say no more. But know, Father, that reflecting on Moses as a quiet man has unsettled my heart, and the only response I know is to cry, “Ready,” when my name is called. To speak with some clarity,I am striving to lay my life in God’s hands and following His will for my life, quite possibly as priest or religious.