This appeared in a recent release of the West Grove Meeting Newsletter by Alyce Denver, who serves as Clerk of West Grove.
A Meditation
Now Moses was tending the sheep of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. Then he led them to the back of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he saw the bush burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not consumed.” Exodus 3: 1—3
There’s Moses: Hebrew child drawn from the water, raised by the daughter of Pharaoh; a young adult, he struck and killed an Egyptian overseer for beating a Hebrew slave; fled to Midian after Pharaoh put a price on his head, marries Zipporah, daughter of the priest of Midian and becomes shepherd to his father-in-law’s flocks. Moses, husband, father, shepherd . . . living the usual shepherd life.
One hot day while leading the sheep to the back side of the desert he happens to notice a bush off to the side burning but not being consumed by the flames.
A cross-roads of sorts. It was a hot day and leading sheep can be tedious business… they do not always follow. (In the ancient Middle East, shepherds did not drive their sheep, they led them – thus in Psalm 23 we have ‘He will lead me beside still waters’ and Jesus’ admonition that the sheep will recognize the voice of the shepherd and follow him.)
The cross-road always holds the seed of conundrum: do I continue on my usual path doing my usual things feeling secure in the usualness of it all or do I step aside and consider this other possibility?
Moses stepped aside to see this unusual thing more closely; to consider the opportunities and the challenges it might contain and what he saw was very disturbing. He was being called to be a union organizer, a civil rights activist, a champion for equal rights under the law for LGBTG people, the one to challenge the status quo and he did not particularly like what he saw. He knew the consequences—the usualness of his life was about to be turned upside down. He began arguing with God, with his Heart: I am a man of heavy tongue, of slow speech . . . Pharaoh will never listen to me. “Okay, I will send your brother Aaron with you”. But what if the people say ‘Why should we follow you, who sent you anyway? “You tell them that I AM sent you”. (Hmmm) What proof can I take? “Hold out your staff and it will turn into a snake”. A conundrum indeed! But Moses did follow his Heart, went back into Egypt, confronted Pharaoh and led a stubborn people to their burning bush, their cross-road: they could continue in their usual lives living under the rule of the status quo or they could open their eyes to a new way of being. They chose the new way. Despite the hardships and the muttering and complaining along the way they kept putting one foot in front of the other until they reached the new place.
Even once in the new place, life was not always easy. Sometimes they forgot to follow their Heart and fell back into the usual ruts. But the really neat part of this story is that after that first time of turning aside to see and follow the new path, they were enabled to turn again and again. They never forgot what it was like to leave the usual behind and experience what Life had to offer.
Scripture is full of stories of those who came to a cross-road and their response: Abraham taking Sara his wife and leaving his tribe for a new place that he would not know until he got there; Lot leaving the usualness of a corrupt city and his wife looking back; the Prophets, speaking Truth to recalcitrant people; Mary, saying ‘Let it be unto me according to your word’.
A burning bush, a cross-road, an opening door, following the grain, going with the flow . . . whatever word we choose to call ‘it’, we all experience that opportunity to turn aside from the usual, to follow a new path. It takes discernment of the Heart to know the true burning bush from the fake fire, the real opportunity from the false desire. It takes questioning: am I good enough for the job (the door is open/you are exactly right); what are my credentials? (I AM sent you); what proof will I have this is right? (Your staff will turn into a snake). Ultimately, the test of whether or not it is truly an Open Door is the Heart and the Heart does not lie.
Trust your Heart/the Light Within/God.
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