Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Meditating on Moses, 2

Exodus 3:13-14 "Then Moses said to God, 'Suppose I go to the People of Israel and I tell them, "The God of your fathers sent me to you'; and they ask me, "what is his name?" What do I tell them?'
God said to Moses, 'I-AM-WHO-I-AM. Tell the People of Israel, "I-AM sent me to you."'"

Obviously I can't tell an agent that God sent me. I mean, I could, but I doubt that's going to be very effective. What is the underlying fear here? I believe it is authority - what God has authority to send people? Which God of their fathers is Moses talking about? The one who led them into captivity in Egypt? What does this mean for me and my writing? All I can think is that it is a clarion call to my inner critic - the Fraud Muse as a friend calls it. When she rears her ugly head, I can hold mine high and tell her that I AM has sent me. Or in the words of the Blues Brothers: I'm on a mission from God.

1 comment:

Fran said...

We can never tell God what to do, no matter how hard we try. And I confess to trying on a regular basis. We can only offer ourselves--and our offerings, whatever they may be. Then we wait upon Him.

I was recently struck dumb by these words of Thomas Merton: "What is the use of prayer if at the very moment of prayer, we have so little confidence in God that we are busy planning our own kind of answer to our prayer?"

Blessings on you.