Where do I stand? On rocky ground or on sand? Where do I leave my footprints? For sure, I cover a lot of ground going from here to there each day, but that's not the kind of foundation I am thinking of right now. Where do I leave the footprints of my soul?
Who do I rely upon for my happiness? My Co-workers? My CPA as the tax season winds down? My wife, my husband, my children, my boss, my friends, my teachers? Do I ever give thought to the ground I am covering in relationship to my soul?
Today's reading from Exodus, has the People of Israel standing on pretty shaky spiritual ground. God is portrayed as angry and ready to destroy them and start again. Then, Moses reasons with God and convinces God to extend mercy, not harm.
In essence, Moses was asking God to remember the promises made to the Israelites. Why would God destroy the people that traveled so long in the desert to obtain the Promised Land?
Thank God for Moses. I am sure that the people of that time were grateful that Moses dared to reason with God. After all, God was unapproachable and only Moses could communicate with the Almighty.
Thank God for Jesus. As I anticipate the coming days of Holy Week, I thank God for being MERCY for me, for all of us. Instead of anger, Jesus was as meek as a lamb, being brought to the slaughter house. Instead of human destruction, forgiveness and mercy poured forth upon us.
Sometimes I feel as if I am standing on shaky, sandy ground, soon to sink lower and lower. This often happens when I allow my happiness to depend upon people, things, prestige, honor, or you-name-it, instead upon the only Source of my soul's fulfillment. Time after time, like the Israelites of old, I walk away from God through my thoughts, words and deeds and through the things I have done or the things I have failed to do.
But that is not the end of the story.
God will never give up on me. No failing or sin of mine is greater than God's love. How do I know this? Jesus showed me through his life, Passion and Death how much he loved me for all time.
This is the time the Church urges me to come back to God and not to be afraid. I rejoice in the unconditional mercy and love of God, poured forth in Jesus Christ!
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