Journeying with the Israelites 101

My niece, Kylie, starts high school today and she is a bit apprehensive. I can appreciate that, as every major transition in my childhood filled me with much anxiety. I used to start the school year by looking at the back of the math text book and thinking that there was NO WAY I would ever understand how to do those complicated problems.  I would work myself up into a tizzy until my mother would remind me that we had to work through the entire book BEFORE we got to that part, and that if I learned each step, by the time we got to the end, I would know what I was doing.  It was good advice, even if I was too stressed to really hear it, but – of course – she was right. 
Part of me wishes I could walk with Kylie this morning as she navigates the halls of her high school, as I am sure her parents do, but we all know that she must make this journey herself with all the starts and stops it will have, in order to learn who she is and where her place is in the world.  So I prayed for her this morning and for all the students and teachers that are returning to school this week, asking for God’s guidance in their endeavors, to calm their fears and inspire a thirst for knowledge.
The Old Testament lesson for this week chronicles perhaps the most important event in the history of the Israelites– the Passover meal.  After nine plagues, Pharaoh’s heart was still hardened and would not allow the Hebrews to leave Egypt. So God sends the Angel of Death to kill the first born, except for those houses which have the blood of a lamb spread over the lintel.  The blood is a sign for the Angel to pass over that house.  Meanwhile, those in the house are eating a meal of lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs. All of these events lead up to the Israelites starting their arduous journey back to the Promised Land.  While they knew the destination of their journey, they really didn’t know much else, expect for the fact that God was with them.
And even that they forgot on a regular basis.  As soon as things got tough, the Israelites complained to Moses and wished longingly for the “comfort” of Egypt.  How quick we are to forget the realities of our former situation when our current situation seems so difficult. There are many stories of children coming home from Kindergarten saying that while that was OK, they weren’t going to go to school anymore.  Even when the desire to learn and know more is present, the journey to wisdom is often filled with missteps, difficulties and even failures.  That is the time when we need to remember that God IS always with us.  More importantly, we need to remind those who are in the midst of their own journeys that God is with them as well, especially when the going gets tough and we want to just give up.
So for Kylie and all who are making perilous journeys into the unknown this week – whether that is a new school, a new job, a new client, a new situation at work, a new context in life – be assured God is with you and that you are not walking alone.  It is your job to remember God’s presence, to breathe in the life-giving Spirit and feel the comfort of God’s love through our experience of Jesus Christ.  Then we never have to journey alone.
In Christ,

Rev. Valerie+ 

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