AT THE RED SEA

God doesn’t mess up!

 The other morning, I was obsessing and upset about sickness both in our healthcare vis-à-vis the new virus and lack of compassion and forethought via our politics.  I wonder how those can affect our world’s future and that of our profession, since touch is such a enormous part of my life. I had the radio turned on in the background, just wanting to listen to some calming music. But instead I heard a man was shouting very loudly…something about the Red Sea!….Well, then I realized it was Sunday morning and the radio happened to be tuned to KAZI, the African American public radio station here in Austin. Now I am not particularly religious but I’m open to learning from anywhere. And the minister was shouting about God and the Israelites at the Red Sea. And he shouted about that situation over and over in a variety of ways – both rhythmic and articulate.

He said we all get to really tight places in our lives. We all get a number of times to our “Red Sea”.

He said, when the people of Israel got to the Red Sea and couldn’t go any further, the people blamed Moses. He’d made, they said, a horrible mistake and mislead them. They’d be better off if they’d stayed in slavery in Egypt! And through him they blamed God.

But God, the radio preacher said, had led them to this very place…as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God didn’t, the preacher said, “MESS UP!”

Moses then said, “STAND STILL.” And then he "stretched out his hand" and sure enough, the story tells us, the Israelites survived and this challenge further empowered their faith.

So it does help to know – when we get to a tight place, at the very least, decisions and circumstances, both mundane and sacred, personal and global  have brought us there. Then if we will stand still and have faith in ourselves or whatever we believe in and then take action, we can make it through. We have made it through before and we will again.

Standing still, then moving forward. Perhaps first adding calmly some knowledge, research and contemplation about our situation. We will then know what to do much better. And then we can act.

In every massage session, we give our clients a chance to stand still. May this time of non-action, give them the time and space in which to rest, to strengthen their resolve, to have more energy to act and, if they happen to be at their Red Sea, to make it through with a deepened faith in themselves and the forces, known and unknown, that help each of us through difficult passages in life.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-did-moses-part-the-red-sea-1417790250