18 March - Bitten by your walking stick

Readings:

Mk 8:31-38

Ps 121

Moses got this neat trick from God in that he could turn his staff into a snake by simply throwing it on the ground. The first time it happened Moses ran for his life. To turn the snake back into his trusty staff he had to grab it by the tail (which must have thrilled him). I wonder how many miles Moses spent on the road to the Promised Land keeping a beady eye on that stick of his? He probably put it down real carefully when going to bed at night, just in case... Perhaps he prudently left it outside the tent at night? My guess is that he gave it to some oblivious fool as a gift soon after leaving Egypt, and just got himself another one. 

At times I wonder whether some of the good things in our lives aren't a bit like Moses's staff. They're desirable, good things, and we work to get them. They are blessings from the Lord. But later we find that on the other end of the blessing there is a head with a forked tongue, and it bites. Like security for instance. It is a blessing from the Lord. (See Ez 34:27 as an example). When there is no security in a country or a family, quality of life plummets. Everything is reduced to fighting for survival. But once security is achieved - usually through the sacrificial lives of others - it eventually results in a sense of self-sufficiency, and with it comes a dreadful arrogance. Isn't that where Europe and the UK are at? Apparently John Wesley also bewailed this phenomenon. Through his ministry, drunkards became Christians, became good, conscientious, hard-working people, acquired the so-called Protestant work ethic, consequently became wealthy, eventually felt they didn't need God anymore, and forsook the very One who brought them wealth in the first place. 

We all face challenges, and Christian-types like me habitually ask God to transform our curses into blessings. Yet, once we become used to the blessings, we turn to the blessings in times of need in stead of to Him who made and gave the blessings. We grab the snake by the tail but it doesn't turn back into a stick.

I lift up my eyes to the hills;

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, 

the Maker of heaven and earth (and of the hills)