Every given moment contains the potential to change the course of our lives. Every single moment, we head into the unknown. Our desire to have at least a modicum of control over our lives leads us to falsely believe some of our most important choices are made to create areas in life we can depend upon. We each try at least to create some semblance of safety.
Yet, nothing ever remains the same. Our lives can change in an instant. When we think, that by setting certain aspects of our lives into play, we have thus created something “known”, we still find ourselves facing issues we have not planned for. We cannot think of everything!
Every moment, we have the opportunity to take a different path on our journey through life. When it comes right down to it, do we ever really know what lies ahead for us? We are constantly journeying into the unknown. We may tell ourselves we have chosen a safe path. We may try to convince ourselves we know what lies ahead. The truth is we never know what awaits us in the future, neither the near future, nor the distant future.
Even when we make a choice about following our destiny, even if it is indeed our destiny, the going will not be completely easy. We will always be faced with something we did not expect. This can be good or bad. Either way, nothing is ever simple, nor easy. Even when this includes choosing complete faith in Adonai.
Sometimes our life-changing decisions are more obvious than at other times. In our parashah, the Israelites chose to be free, chose to leave what they knew behind, follow Moses, and trust Adonai. We begin just after the 10 plagues were set upon Egypt. We had just been witness to the power of Adonai. Knowing what they knew, they still were afraid of journeying away from what they knew. This included leaving slavery and the slave mentality behind.
Was the journey ahead scary? Probably. Was it going to be dangerous? The odds were it would be. Would it be fraught with difficulties, both physical and emotional? Very likely. Was it exciting? Yes, this too! Had anyone - or all of them - chosen to stay, or even to turn back, it would have been dangerous, scary, and fraught with difficulties too. Remember too, quite a lot of non-Israelites joined them on this journey, as we are told a mixed multitude went along with them.
The Israelites chose Adonai, their destiny, their inheritance, and...oh yeah, hey Moses, aren’t we heading the wrong way out of here? The Torah tells us Adonai did not want the Israelites to have to face the Philistines, a warring people, so soon after leaving Egypt. This is why Adonai had Moses lead them out of Egypt in the opposite direction of Canaan. Yet, it also tells us the Philistines heard about the plagues, and the parting of the sea, and were afraid. Were they really going to be an obstacle?
If facing the potential obstacle of a war with the Philistines was not a good idea, then why were they so quickly facing war with Amalek? Experience is truly the best kind of teacher. The Israelites would have to change not just the place they had called home for so long, they would have to change their way of thinking too. After all, choosing to no longer be oppressed, and therefore to be “free”, does not automatically mean one’s whole way of thinking will automatically change right away. Change takes time.
Adapting takes time too. They would not only have to face life in a new land as free-thinkers, they would also be responsible for establishing a new nation. A nation which would be established under Adonai. They would need to become leaders for the world to understand there is only one G-d, everyone’s G-d, and what Adonai wants is for us, all of us, to treat each other kindly, respectfully, fairly, and justly. We were to teach the world no human being is a god. Not Pharaoh, not anyone.
Even today, the Arabs who live in Israel have more freedom, rights and respect than in any other country in the Middle East. Yes, Israel is our birthright, given to us by Adonai. Let us not forget, from the get-go, we were welcoming to those who were not descended from the tribes of Jacob. A mixed multitude of others chose to join us in leaving Egypt. They too would be witnesses at Mount Sinai.
Choosing Adonai is not and was not exclusive to the Jewish people. Adonai tells us in the Torah, the whole world needed to understand the power and love of Adonai. The world needed to know praying to other gods would lead down a path to destruction. The road ahead for those who choose Adonai will by no means be easy, but who we are is shaped by our journeys. In fact, we cannot even reach our desired destination until the day we die.
Our lives are full of tests. We may not like this, but it is the way we have to go. The Israelites, rather soon after beginning their course of choosing to leave Egypt, were faced with self-doubts. They complained to Moses. Moses tried to tell them to take it up with Adonai. No one forced them to leave, after all. Blaming someone else for the choices we make, or even for our choice to follow another’s lead, is indicative of a lack of one’s pesonal responsibility.
We may hope and want the results of our decisions to change our lives in major ways to immediately give us a sense of relief, or a happier life. Realistically, we should know better. There is always a period of adjustment, even if we wanted the change we made. We humans tend to get used to certain things in every aspect of our lives. Still, we know deep inside, whether we admit it to ourselves or not, what the right choice, the good choice, the one Adonai would want us to make, really is.
The Torah tells us, rather soon after the Israelites set out, Adonai provided visible guideposts in the forms of the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night. We know they had these pillars to follow throughout the 42 years of wandering in the desert. (They had wandered for roughly two years before the spies were sent into Canaan, and caused another forty years of wandering.) Wouldn’t it be nice if the signs to guide us were always so clear?
We may not have pillars of clouds, or fires to lead us, but there are obvious guideposts for each and everyone of us. We can choose to ignore them, but it does not mean they are not there. Courageously, the Israelites seized the day! They chose to place themselves in Adonai’s care. Of course, leaving oppression is always the right thing to do. Just not the easiest thing to do.
On the other side of the sea, now safe and sound, the people praised and thanked Adonai. They had not yet reached their destination. This is very important. We must give thanks and praise Adonai for everything. Every step on our journey. Every day too. We should learn to pay attention to what we know we should do, no matter how scary an option may be.
When we choose to do what we know we should not, the consequences are always worse than they would have been otherwise. Choosing to serve Adonai may not bring you immediate happiness, but it should bring some peace of mind. At least when you do so, you can live with your choices. It is when we do what we know we should not, an uneasiness will follow us wherever we may go.
The shortest and easiest path may not actually be what it seems to be. We cannot know the mind of Adonai, so we can only speculate as to why the Israelites were led out of Egypt in the almost opposite direction they needed to go to reach Canaan quickly. What we want, and what we can handle, are not necessarily the same things. Every choice we make comes with its own set of responsibilities.
While Adonai had sent the Israelites help through Moses and Aaron, there were months of time between when Moses came back to Egypt to help, and when he was actually able to lead the way out. Every time there is a way we comprehend as a path to take to change any unwanted circumstances, do we always take this help right away? Usually not. We need time to even adjust our thinking to accept this new option. Why should the Israelites have been any different?
Moses teaches us quite a number of things. What we find in this parashah is his unconditional love for Adonai, and for his people. He was dedicated to the choice he had made to serve Adonai. He was dedicated to the Israelites too. He did not like receiving their complaints, yet he never hesitated in his leadership role. He always focused them on Adonai no matter what the circumstances were, no matter how futile things seemed to be. After all, when they felt trapped between the sea and Pharaoh’s army, Adonai gave them a way towards safety. Maybe the miracle of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds was not so much the splitting itself, or even the timing of it - great though these surely were - maybe it was that the Israelites, and the mixed multitude joining them too, all chose to take the risk, seize the moment, and place all of their faith fully in Adonai.
They did not have the benefit of knowing what was to be. They could have individually, as small groups, or all together have chosen to surrender and go back. While the sea split for them, they did not have any way of knowing when it would come back together. While the miracle was there, they could have chosen not to believe it either. While choosing Adonai is always the right thing to do, considering the obstacles we all come to face, it still takes courage, absolute faith, and belief, along with strength in one’s convictions, to act in a way which serves Adonai. Either way, there will be consequences, some which we may not like. Our faith is challenged at every turn even today. Choosing what others may think is the prudent option rarely turns out to be so. As I mentioned earlier, choosing to stay true to acting in the way you know you should affords one some peace inside.
Shabbat Shalom! I’d love to know what you think! You may e-mail me, call me, write on the Google Friend Connect widget, write your thoughts on my blog page on goodreads.com, or on my Facebook page.
Spiritually Yours,
Laura Weakley
No comments:
Post a Comment
I'd love to know what you think!