You think it has been a long, tedious, stressful, anxiety-ridden time since March? Well, Moses and the Israelites wandered the wilderness for forty years. The story of their journey starts out well enough escaping slavery under Pharaoh’s evil regime. But after only a few weeks in forsaken land without food or fresh water their minds began to wonder. “Hey Moses, what’s the plan? Why did you lead us out here to die? We would have been better off in Egypt. At least we had three square meals a day and a place to sleep!” Their griping went on and on. 

Even when Moses goes to file their complaints with God, the people begin searching for other avenues of divine intervention. They build a golden calf and start worshiping other idols instead. This doesn’t rest well with God and it’s what leads to their long, long journey. But God doesn’t give up on them.

God hears their cries and answers their prayers. Food, in the form of manna from heaven, rains down upon them. Water, fresh and pure, flows from hard rock. The people continue on in their journey, wafting back and forth from faith to doubt to faith again. But they keep on keeping on and the journey ultimately leads to a promised land flowing with milk and honey.

These faith stories resonate well with us because they reflect our human experience even across the eons. 

We are wandering in a wilderness right now. We yearn for the world we once knew. Oh to be back in the hectic break-neck schedules and unsustainable use of our resources of time, talents, and treasure. The old rat race seems so much more appealing than quarantine, isolation and social distancing. Or does it? 

I recently read a poem by Erika Fine entitled, “Wish” that may sum it up well. 

"The weeks go by, the fourth, the fifth,

And normalcy’s become a myth.

I want to hug, I want to hold,

I want this deadly scourge controlled.

I want to walk amidst a crowd.

I want to lift this morbid shroud.

I sit, sequestered in my home,

And yearn to mingle, travel, roam.

My energy is out of whack —

I want my normal problems back."

There are so many unknowns in our world. Will the virus be controlled any time soon? What will happen to the economy? What will happen to the education system? What will happen to the Church? We just don’t know. And those unknowns make us anxious and instead of relying on the trusted leaders of those areas we speculate, turn to false idols (i.e. social media) and yearn for the days gone by.  

But the story of God always says, “You are not alone. You are never abandoned. I am with you every step of the way.” It is the sacred story repeated from the beginning of time. So we try not to look backward but move forward on the journey and keep on keeping on. 

Peace,

— Todd Hackman is senior pastor at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Monroe.