Moses and me are tight.

Here I am in New Hampshire ... headed first for a meeting with some church leaders about the possibility of becoming involved there, then headed for Bar Harbor, ME for vacation time. And I am nervous about this interview, more nervous than I can remember being for a while. Why? Because, from what I know, I really like the pastor of this church and the situation of the church in general. It feels as though it would be a really good fit between their needs and my and Becky's skills and abilities. Therefore, I am really hoping it works out, and because I so want it to work out, I am really nervous. But ultimately, it's in God's hands anyway.

I've been thinking about a lot of things lately, but have not had the time and opportunity I'd hoped for to write about them here. One thing that's caught my attention is reading in the book of Exodus, and seeing the story of one man's journey (Moses) and the journey of a nation (Israel.) I can't help but see the parallels between this journey and the human journey in general ... each person's journey with or away from God, and our interactions with him.

What's striking is that at every single critical juncture in Moses' journey and that of Israel, someone had some serious objections to the right way forward. In Christian churches I heard a lot growing up about the obstinacy, rebelliousness and faithlessness of Israel. When you read closely, you see that in the beginning of Exodus, at least, they just took after their leader. I can imagine being Moses and actually hearing God audibly speak to me from a magical bush that was burning but not burning up, and questioning every statement he made that had to do with how I should live my personal life. It's one thing to accept God's general statements ... "this is holy ground," "I'm the God of your fathers," "I am." It's even easy to take off my shoes. After all, it's not like it's that much trouble to loosen up a sandal strap and step out. It's kind of cool getting to be reverent in an experiental way like that.

But change my life? Go back to stinkin' Egypt, where I'll be persecuted and maybe enslaved and I'm actually a wanted fugitive? I'm sorry, God, but I think you may have gotten a crossed wire with yourself here. Lead a nation? Do you remember the last time I tried to lead? That was when I was younger, better looking, fashionable and relevant, and nobody at all wanted to listen to me ... what's more, I ended up killing a guy and leaving the country!

to be continued, because I have to go and get ready for that interview I was talking about earlier...