Day 1 - Moses

April 1 - Moses

"Let my people go."

Moses seems a very appropriate place to start in my year-long venture to reflect on "saints."  In reading about Moses this morning, one of the things that struck me was the reflection that until God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, Moses considered himself an Egyptian.  So not only is God calling upon Moses to liberate the nation of Israel, it's a people with whom he had previously not identified at all.

Moses is one of the first true agents of social justice that we hear about.  He is the great liberator, acting out God's desire to lead his people out of bondage and to freedom.  But, unlike Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and other great champions of social justice later in history, Moses has no previous affiliation with the people he champions.  How much more difficult must that have been to give up everything and answer God's call?  And yet he did it.

It makes me wonder how often we miss the opportunities to act out God's justice in our everyday lives.  It's easy to fight for it when it affects us, but what about when we aren't directly affected?  Shouldn't we just as passionately fight for social justice for everyone around us, even those with whom we have no affiliation beyond being brothers and sisters in God's creation?

Perhaps it's especially appropriate then to be reflecting on Moses on this Maunday Thursday.  The washing of the feet at today's liturgy reminds us of the example of servant leadership Jesus has given us.  I'm always struck by the image of God in his incarnate form, kneeling and tenderly washing the feet of his friends.  He didn't come to earth to be worshiped but instead to journey with us and set an example for us to follow.

I need to work on listening to the ways God calls me to work for his justice in the world around me, both large and small.  There aren't many burning bushes around, but I'm sure that I regularly miss the subtle ways in which God cries out.  And can I have the courage to follow that call, especially when I don't stand to benefit directly from it?  I'm not sure, but I'll sure try.