Tuesday, September 9

Today’s Readings: Psalm 114; Exodus 17:1-16; Luke 14:11-32; Romans 14:10-13; Psalm 81

Several years ago when I was an undergraduate I took a sociology class titled Deviance. In the class we studied aspects of the human experience that fell outside of society’s norms. This was the 1980’s, mind you, so folk’s awarenesses and sensitivities were different than they are today. Each class member had to do a project that involved interviewing someone who was deviant. One group of people that fell under the classification back then were individuals involved in abusive relationships. I was just 20 at the time and had come from a small town. I was sure I had never known a person in an abusive relationship so I decided to do my project in this area. One day I was having lunch with a friend and we were talking about the project when I said, “I have no clue how I’ll ever find someone who has been involved in an abusive relationship. Where would I even start?” “Well, you could start with me,” she said. She proceeded to tell me the story of a long-term abusive relationship she had been in in high school. She explained how she got into the relationship. A male friend she knew at the time had sexually assaulted her and her religious parents had told her growing up that no respectable boy would ever want a girl who was not pure so she decided to "date" the boy that had assaulted her. “Okay,” I said. “I can understand how you might have gotten into the relationship. But why did you stay?” “Well,” she said, “when you don’t know anything different it’s easier to stay and endure the abuse rather than risk being alone.” I thought of that conversation when I read the story of the Israelites in today’s passage from Exodus. In that passage, we are told the story of how the Israelites finally broke out of their bondage in Egypt and escaped to freedom. The Israelites, however, responded to their new circumstance in the most unusual way. They complained! It seems that - like my friend - they were more comfortable enduring the pain they were familiar with rather than taking a chance and finding freedom. What is it about us that often makes us willing to stay in places of pain rather than leave those places behind? I suppose it’s fear – fear of the unknown. So what’s the best antidote for that paralyzing fear? Faith. Faith in a brighter future. Faith in the God who makes such a future possible. Today I wonder if there’s an area of your life steeped with pain where you are choosing to remain out of fear. If so, I would encourage you to remember the story of the Israelites - particularly how God sustained and nourished them when they ventured out into the unknown. That memory might give you the strength you need in order to leave the pain behind and move toward new life. Til next time…