Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent - April 9, 2019

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Numbers 21:4-9   Psalm 102  John 8:21-30 

Somewhat excited to have been asked to contribute to our Lenten reflections, I immediately sat down and read all the day’s readings.  Then I read them a second time.  What are these words saying to me?  Nothing.  I was instantly frustrated with the words that did not say much in today's world, or so I thought.

Then it hit me.  FRUSTRATION!  The Book of Numbers puts the worn out Israelites wandering aimlessly in the desert.  Eating magic food that was wretched to their tastes.  They were absorbed by thoughts of defeat in their endeavor to escape the Egyptians.  They cried out to God and Moses. Why did that word speak to me?  Because I have recently faced frustration.

Chapter 1:   Last month my cell phone crashed.  After failed frustrating attempts to get into the phone, I visited the Apple Store.  The solution was to reboot the phone.  The short story is that I lost all my contacts, photos, etc.  Defeated by the iCloud and all of Appledom, I cried out to God and Moses:  THIS IS NOT GOOD!

Chapter 2:   I could not revisit photos and videos of grandchildren. Checking some medical history in my photos was not possible. I was lost in the desert. I had been bitten by the serpent.  Ouch!

Chapter 3:   The answer to my cry was a simple smile on my face that reflected my feeling that I will be all right, God is at hand.  I am free from that lost digital information.  There were lots of old contacts anyway, and now I do not have to spend time deleting them. My family and friends will call me and I will get their contact information. I am not bound or held back by this lost stuff that is now of the past.  A simpler future awaited me, and the smile of letting go was indeed comforting. I had only to look at the “bronze serpent mounted on a pole” (i.e. an image of my God from today’s scriptures) and I have recovered. 

Q:  Do I die from the serpent bite or do I look to God, smile, and know that I am loved?


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