Category: Kim’s Blog

“God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, ‘Jacob, Jacob.’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then God said, ‘I am God, the God of your fathers; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there.’” Genesis 46:2-3

Jacob/Israel was coming to the end of his long life. He was old and had a large family. We can well imagine that his intent was to make his transition from this life in his comfortable homeland of Canaan. That was where he was familiar and entrenched. That’s the land he had spent his life on. That is where the people were that he knew.

Maybe Jacob/Israel thought that he was winding down; that God was pretty much finished with him. He had done his job, been faithful, followed God’s way. Now it was time to coast to the end. A gentle landing. But instead, he finds himself moving to a new country;  family, flocks and all. It’s a huge transition but not the one he was expecting to make ending his life on earth. This is a big, unexpected change into a new future here in this life.

Sometimes we may feel that God is not active or present in our lives. We may feel that God is quiet in our lives. We may wonder why we don’t get more direction or intimation of a godly nature in our lives. But maybe we are getting the signals and we are ignoring them. Maybe we are being called to make great changes but we are comfortable with things as they are. Maybe we are being sent in new directions but we are turning off our GPS to God because we don’t want to head that way. We like how things are going. We don’t want our apple cart upset. We don’t want to be bothered with drastic change. We just want to coast. But there can be a lot of friction to deal with when we coast against God.

Prayer
When life is good and we are happy, we may resist change. When we are struggling, we may resist the kind of change God intends for our good. May we keep listening with openness and a sensitivity to our resistance. Amen.

“So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. And they told him, ‘Joseph is still alive! He is even ruler over all the land of Egypt.’ He was stunned; he could not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph that he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. Israel said, ‘Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him before I die.’” Genesis 45:25-28

Jacob was giving out. He was an old man with wives and children. He had flocks and holdings. He had done what he needed to do. Then he hears about his son Joseph being alive. And his life suddenly takes a new turn. We are told that he revives.

It is easy for us to simply go into a coast mode. We have what we need, we go long, we plod from day to day. We pay the bills, we go to the doctor, we go through the motions. Our spirits flag. Our passions ebb. It may be gradual, so much so that it goes unnoticed. We may be disengaging and loosing interest and not even really be aware.

Joseph gets word of the son he thought was dead, and suddenly he once again has a passion for life. Pope Francis suggested that people give up apathy for Lent. This is a time to ask ourselves if we are apathetic. If we have lost interest in things. Do we need to be revived? Do we need to regain our passion? What is the condition of our spirits?

If we notice some ebbing of spirit, there are things we can do to engage. We do not just have to sit around and wait for something amazing to happen in our lives. We can dip our toe in the water. Try getting involved in something you care about. Try investing yourself more deeply in a relationship. Try a new hobby or a new subject or activity. Or pick up something you have not done for a long time. Spend some time in nature. Volunteer somewhere. Write a letter about an issue that you care about. Eventually you will find something that revives you. That excites you. That impassions you.

Prayer
Jesus went to the wilderness to discern his mission and his passion. In this Lenten season, may we consider our passion. May we see more clearly how we are being called to be engaged in the enterprise of faith. Amen.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your bothers, ‘Do this: load your animals and go back to the land of Canaan. Take your father and your households and come to me, so that I may give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you may enjoy the fat of the land.’ You are further changed to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Give no thought to your possessions, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’” Genesis 45: 17-19, NRSV

In the story of Joseph, we see the Pharaoh listening to Joseph and following Joseph’s counsel. Joseph is a foreigner. He is an outsider. He is an alien. And he begins his time in Egypt as a slave. He is from the bottom of a rigidly tiered society. And yet Pharaoh takes Joseph’s advice and recommendations seriously, he respects Joseph, and does what Joseph suggests.

How often would a national leader in the US take the counsel of a low class, foreigner who has spent time in jail? We would probably just be trying to deport the person!

In the recent session of the Florida State legislature, there was a bill presented to allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry their guns openly. There was also a proposed bill to allow people to carry concealed weapons on state college and university campuses. It is hard to see how these bills could do anything but open the door to more shootings and violence. Thankfully, both of these bills failed to be passed and will not become law though they had substantial support in some quarters. But it is hard to conceive that these bills were even seriously considered and yet they were. We can see how the world gets the impression that America loves guns.

Recently, an international $1 million dollar prize was awarded to Hanan al-Hroub for excellence in teaching. She is a teacher in al-Bireh just outside of Ramallah in the West Bank. Al-Hroub is a Palestinian, an Arab, and a woman. And yet she won this prestigious award. She is committed to teaching peace. Her mantra is ‘no to violence’ and she stresses the need for dialogue. She is absolutely committed to creating peace through non violence and this is the focus of her educational efforts. Chances are she probably wouldn’t win a teaching award in the state of Florida. [See Tampa Bay Times, 3/14/16, “Palestinian wins $1M Global Teacher Prize”]

Maybe we should wise up like Pharaoh and listen to this foreigner, this person of low status, this outsider, this woman. Maybe we should be taking her seriously and listening to what she says, and implementing her vision. She is showing us the way to being a free, safe, democratic society.

In the UCC we say that God Is Still Speaking. We don’t limit where this speaking comes from because we do not limit God.

Prayer
May we listen to what we need to hear, even when it is difficult, or comes from an unlikely source. Everyone can be a voice for Divine Love and healing. Amen.

“And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.” Genesis 45:2, NRSV

When Joseph is finally revealing his identity to his brothers, he weeps uncontrollably. We can imagine tears for the years lost, for being brought together, for the unreconciled wrong between them, for the grief and pain about what has transpired and for the raw, ragged emotion of the whole situation. Maybe he did not even know that he had such tears to come forth. He wept upon his brother, Benjamin, and he kissed and wept upon all of his brothers.

It’s interesting that we are never told that the brothers weep. They are dismayed. Finally they speak. But we are not told of weeping or kissing on their part. We are really not even given a good apology scene. The story marches ahead with plans for Jacob’s family to relocate to Egypt. We don’t see tears and wailing on the part of the brothers. Does their guilt hold them back? Are they so wracked with regret that they have become expert at keeping their feelings down?

This makes me wonder about crying. When do we cry? How much do we cry? When has there been sobbing and wailing? Uncontrollable grief? The way Joseph’s crying is portrayed, we see that this reconnection and reconciliation is momentous and made even more poignant by the complete surprise involved. Surely Joseph never expected to see his brothers again. And the feelings are overwhelming. I am wondering when we let ourselves be overwhelmed by our feelings. When we just let it out.

The brothers, the guilty ones, seem more reserved, more hesitant, more stoic. Does guilt stifle feelings of grief and tears? Does regret lead to stuffing feelings for self preservation? Maybe there are things we need to let surface this Lenten season.

Prayer
Tears are a gift that help us to know our hearts. We are told that even Jesus wept. Crying is not weak, it is human. May we not be afraid of the tears that are evidence of our full humanity. Amen.

“When Pharaoh calls you, and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our ancestors’ – in order that you may settle in the land of Goshen, because all shepherds are abhorrent to the Egyptians.” Genesis 46:33-34

As Joseph plans for his brothers and family to settle in Egypt, they have to work around a problem. The Egyptians don’t like sheep and shepherds, and Joseph’s family are shepherds with extensive flocks. So the family settles in Goshen, outside the capital, in an outlying area, where they won’t be disturbed by the prejudice of the Egyptians. So, even back in those days, new ethnic groups settled in ghettos, off by themselves, for protection and solidarity.

We are also told that the Egyptians would not eat with Joseph’s family for that was abhorrent to them. The Egyptians let the Hebrews come and stay in Egypt, but they are clearly not fully accepted or welcomed. Later, under a different Pharaoh, the Hebrews are forced to work as slaves.

In today’s world, we know intellectually that there are no justifiable reasons for this kind of division and bigotry. And we know that separate means unequal. Thousands of years have gone by since the time of the story of Joseph in Egypt and yet the same issues face humanity. We wonder when we will choose to move beyond these divisions and prejudices. When will we truly accept that in God’s eyes, there is but one race, the human race. And its diversity is vast and amazing. Something to embrace and be enriched by, not something to fear.

If anything, in America at this time the problems of ethnocentrism and classism seem to be increasing not decreasing. People publicly demonstrate against a homeless shelter in their area, or a half way house of some kind, before you even get to a different ethnic group, skin color, or a community of legal refugees.

Our Christian faith teaches us that everyone is our neighbor and we are to love our neighbor. That means we are to work for the well being of our neighbor. Today, with the migration of populations which will continue to increase, we are needed to speak up and welcome all. Lent would be a good time to befriend someone who is different from you in some way.

Prayer
God is beyond our knowing and beyond our imagining. A hint of the amazing creativity of God can be seen in the vast diversity of the human population. May we see this diversity as a divine gift and appreciate it. Amen.