FROM Egypt to Israel it takes seven days. But it took the Israelites forty years. Why? Well, they were arrogant, obstinate, impatient, complaining and they did not trust God. Sounds familiar? We are in a desert now and look at how a lot of us are reacting. Arrogant, obstinate, impatient and complaining. Let us hope that this does not last forty months because of our attitudes. Remember what happened in the desert when the Israelites complained. They got lost, they starved and got bitten by serpents. They complained about their discomforts and their past lives in Egypt. It seemed that Egyptian slavery was now a luxury compared to the vastness of the desert. They yearned for their lost lives. Familiar?
But it was also in the desert that God did some awesome things. Manna, water springing from rocks. One of the highlights of our Holy Land pilgrimage two years ago was actually the desert. We were shown the bleakness and the cruelty of the desert. The barren and lifeless desert is something to be seen to be believed. That is why wells gushing water and rocks spurting water are indeed miracles.
Forty years against seven days. People will always be people and by now we should have learned our lessons. Have we? Answer it.
When we were in Jordan we were brought to the hill where Moses saw the Promised Land for the first time. It was especially special for us because it was sunset and the view was dramatic. We were gazing at the very thing Moses saw eons ago. They finally reached the Promised Land.
Today we are in the desert. And like the Jews we are doing what they did. Well, not all of us. Some of us are praying like we have never prayed before. Some of us are kinder and more compassionate. Some of us are discovering or rediscovering our lost selves. Some of us have found our humanity once more. Never mind the hard headed and the arrogant.
Our promised land today is the day when this virus is finally stopped or when they find the vaccine for it. In the meantime, we trudge along with trepidation and hope. We walk with trust and fear. We walk in the darkness while yearning for the day. We journey with the assurance that God will find us worthy to bring us back to what we were meant to be.