MOSES & ME
I was sitting in my hotel room late one night. I couldn’t sleep for the life of me, and I’d already grown tired of staring at the TV, so I was looking around. I wasn’t sure what I’d find, but, by the grace of the Gideons, I stumbled onto a bible. It was lying on the desk beside the bed, and it seemed like it had been there a while. Well, I had nothing else to do, so I picked it up, nervously, and started paging through the early chapters.
I didn’t really know much about the Old Testament, apart from what I’d heard in church, growing up. I guess, back then, it seemed like a lot of fire and brimstone, and I was just coming off a heavy dose of the Flintstones, so it didn’t really stick. I did remember, though, that there were a lot of interesting stories and plenty of colorful characters too, so I decided to check it out.
Not sure what to read, I just flipped through it and eventually landed on a section with Moses. He seemed like a cool cat to hang around, what with the parting of the seas, the snake & staff, and the burning shrubbery. I mean, that’s the stuff of movies, right? So, I figured I’d give it a shot. Turns out he was quite the guy too, and an amazing leader. People followed him everywhere, and he taught them well, apparently. I was surprised, though, when I got to the Mount Sinai scene. I thought that one would play out differently.
Granted, I didn’t know much about the context, the covenant, or the history behind it all, but if a leader like that went up to the holy heights and met the Big Guy, I just assumed he’d come down holding an invitation or talking about God’s welcoming hand. Instead, he brought back, of all things, a bunch of commandments. They were carved in stone too. Heavy stuff. By the way, I don’t know if you’ve seen them but there are a heck of a lot of Thou Shalt Nots in there.
I guess it was a strange time back then, with a lot of judgment and wrath, guilt and shame, things like that. But I thought Moses would be different. I figured that maybe a paragraph or two after coming down the second time, he might look at the commandments and head right up again. Third time’s the charm. I thought he might go back up, hang out for a while & then come down but he’d be skipping and shouting great tidings this time - Maybe even cracking a smile.
& I figured he might say:
“After further review, we’ve decided to change a thing or two. First of all, the message really doesn’t have to be a written one, let alone carved in stone, since it’s already etched into your soul. Trust us, you’ll remember it when you’re ready. Secondly, it also seems we were focusing more on vice than paradise, so after thinking it through, we’ve replaced the Shalt Nots with a bunch of - You Won’t Need Tos. That seems closer to the truth. After all, why would you need to grasp at the low hanging fruit, the hollow substitutes, when there’s something better growing just a little higher up the tree. When just a branch or two above the rotting fruit is the good stuff – and it’s not only accessible but it’s delectable too. In fact, once you get a taste of that, you’ll realize that’s what you were hungering for all along. So, yes, we’ve changed that part.”
In my naivety, I actually thought that’s how the Sinai scene would play out & then I figured Moses might wrap things up by telling the crowd the coolest part of all. He’d remind them that heaven wasn’t some distant place that you went after your body died. That the garden, and paradise, are already here, waiting deep inside. That the trees of Eden are still growing, still overflowing with purpose, peace and joyous creativity. That’s what I thought he might say. But sadly, it didn’t happen that way. I guess, it was a much different time back then and maybe that’s what people needed to hear. Who knows. But I was a little disappointed. It seemed like a missed opportunity. So, I just closed the book and put it away. And I drifted soundly off to sleep.