Wednesday, 4 December, 2002

This is a part of a series of devotions based on: God Was In This Place & I , i Did Not Know - by Lawrence Kushner



In a section labeled "Oblivious to Miracles" it is noted that the greatest miracle ever performed...more than all the miracles beheld by the prophets...was the splitting of the Red Sea as Israel fled Egypt. One Midrash (story explaining stories) mentions the experience of two Israelites, Reuven & Shimon:

Apparently the bottom of the sea, though safe to walk on, was not completely dry but a little muddy, like a beach at low tide. Reuven stepped into it and curled his lip. "What is this muck?"

Shimon scowled, "There's mud all over the place!"

"This is just like the slime pits of Egypt!" replied Reuven.

"What's the difference?" Complained Shimon. "Mud here, mud there: it's all the same."

And so it went for the two of them, grumbling all the way across the bottom of the sea. And, because they never once looked up, they never understood why on the distant shore everyone else was singing songs of praise. For Reuven and Shimon the miracle never happened.



I may share this story at our Wednesday Advent worship because there is so much here about awareness...seeing what is there and yet, at times, missing the full story that is much more than what we often choose to see. What we choose to see often makes the whole picture quite unrecognizable. Advent is a time of the Church Year that directs us to look into the promise of God to be with us and that presence is the beginning and end of the Good News. But there are many times and many, many moments when we cannot see anything but the muck in which we have stepped. Too often, that means we forget our place...we forget the whole story...we forget that we are not alone nor abandoned.



Connection: Do the people within your day often seem to be just that...people within your day? What if we were able to see them through the eyes of promise? See them as though they play a part in a cosmic drama in which we too are placed. We don't need to dwell on what "part" everyone plays - that can become a horrible religious game. Instead, maybe asking the questions simply will help us lift up our heads and become more aware of the many possibilities for life that are placed all around us.



Lord of the Exodus, you promise to deliver your people and we long to be grabbed up and brought within your gracious reign where justice and peace kiss. Let this time be one in which our eyes begin to see more of your reign breaking in all around us. With such vision, inspire our praise of you. Amen.