"Journey To The Promised Land"

Exodus 1-13

"When Israel was in Egypt land;

Let My People Go!

Oppressed so hard, they could not stand;

Let My People Go!

Go Down, Moses, way down in Egypt land;

Tell ole Pharaoh, to let my people go!"

Here we are back to the place where we started from.  For obvious reasons, I took a detour to be present in the moment of the holiday season.  While I'm sure it is hard for many of you to believe that I am indeed a Christian, it's true - I am.  And although I'm sure many of you would also find it hard to believe that I am a bit traditional when it comes my faith walk, that too is also true...  But read me carefully; I said, "traditional," not conservative.  Certainly not narrow in my focus or my approach to encountering the Divine in all of its manifestations.  So yes, I am moved when the sacred text records King David as writing, "O taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8a).  I like that!  That's good stuff!  And since I like to believe that I have a rather sophisticated and discriminating palate, delighting in a plethora of cuisines, it should be no surprise that I enjoy the adventure of the journey.  I get excited about the many routes the journey may take us.  I look forward to the high peaks and yes, even the valley lows.  For without them, we are just church playing, bible thumping, pseudo believers, who are probably engaged in and/or are members of what a former professor of mine so aptly characterized as a personality cult.  Although I hate to say it, that too is one of the routes on the journey that many of us must take in order to get to the promised land.  Which just so happens to be the subject of this post.

As you know, we are reading Reading the Bible Again for the First Time by Marcus Borg.  We have gotten through Genesis and are now into the book of Exodus.  Yes, I know I've missed posting on some of the most exciting and controversial chapters and characters of the bible, but how many times do you all need to hear about the mysterious disappearance of Ishmael and the even more mysterious re-appearance of Isaac where Ishmael was said to be?  How many times do you all need to hear about Esau being swindled and cheated out of his birthright and his blessing by a conniving "co-mother," Rebekah and her son, his brother, Jacob - who we have also come to know as Israel?  Indeed I lament not posting about the rape of Dinah, and two of her brother's plot to avenge her honor by tricking the assailant and his fellow brethren into circumcising themselves and then killing them while they were recovering from it.  Yikes!

Then there's the epic tale of Joseph, the dream-weaver and his [rainbow] coat of many colors ;) ;) - who is thrown into a pit by his brothers, sold into servitude to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, "where he found favor in his sight and attended him..."  Whew... Umph, umph, umph...  Though my mouth is watering over this, I'm gonna leave that alone.  After that, he is allegedly sexually harassed by Potiphar's wife, and thrown into a dungeon.  But, after revealing the meaning of Pharaoh's dreams foretelling famine, he finds favor with Pharaoh.  He rises to a place of honor and a seat of power, second only to Pharaoh, saves Egypt and consequently his own family; And, just when you thought it was all over, he is summoned by his father, Jacob aka Israel, to come and put his hand under his thigh to make a promise that he will not bury him in Egypt.  Uh, Umph...  Lawd hammercy ya'll...  I don't think I can walk away from this one...  "Put your hand under my thigh!"  What?  Wait a minute now...  Okay, okay, OK!  But trust and believe, I am going to come back to this epic tale - I must, I really must!  Anyhue, moving right along.  Eventually, Joseph dies and like his father, he too makes his brothers swear that they will not bury him in Egypt.  He didn't require them to put their hands under his thigh though...  Jeez Louise...  I'm jes saying.

Joseph's death brings us right into Exodus.  In fact the first 13 chapters of Exodus is about the birth of Moses, his time in Egypt, his encounter with the Sacred through a burning bush, and the great commission to go back to Egypt to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.  God had heard the misery of the Israelites who, due to their increased numbers - and the fact that there was now a new Pharaoh, who didn't give a rat's @$$ about Joseph and all that he had done for Egypt - were now slaves under the oppressive yoke of Pharaoh.  This is the story of Israel.  It is how they got over.  This story is told time and time again, for all generations to come.  It is the moment in the history of the Jews where YHWH (Yahweh) stepped in, remembered the promise made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, aka Israel, and thought it was high time that S/HE made good on that promise.  

This is also a very critical narrative in the lives of African Americans.  As a people, the Exodus narrative and the relationship developed between Moses and God throughout the telling of the Exodus story is reminiscent of the enslaved African's plight under the yoke of a contemporary Pharaoh - America and the institution of chattel slavery.  Like the Israelites, the enslaved Africans looked and hoped for their very own "Moses" - the one that would come to deliver them from physical bondage.  That is why every time there arise from the shadows of our collective whole, one that appears to have an extraordinary desire and gift to speak of freedom from the oppressive systems of power, privilege and principalities, and then acts with deliberate intent and speed to bring about the very freedoms they speak of both individually and collectively, that we affectionately refer to them as our "Moses."  

We don't know for sure if there ever was a great exodus out of Egypt, but we do know that here in America, there was a people, enslaved - a people "oppressed so hard they could not stand," a people beaten, raped, hunted down like dogs, and lynched with impunity.  There was a people, who worked in the blistering heat in tobacco fields - a people that picked and chopped cotton from sun up to sun down, all the while bearing the lash of the taskmasters whip.  There was a people who cried out to the Lord to send a deliverer who would come and "Tell ole Pharaoh to let my people go."  Indeed there was a people who waited and in many ways, are still waiting for the deliverer who will move us on through the next phase of the journey toward the promised land - where we may all be free - free from all forms of oppression and discrimination, where we can worship God how we damn well please.  There was a people, there is a people.  We are the people, who will get to the promised land.  RIZE UP and BE FREE!

"Your foes shall not before you stand;

Let my people go!

And you'll possess fair Canaan's land;

Let my people go!

Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt land;

Tell ole Pharaoh, to let my people go!"    
© Dorinda G. Henry, 2011

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!