Looking beyond...

This morning with left Wadi Musa and Petra in a swirling cloud... perhaps very evocative of Moses being on top of Mount Sinai in the cloud, the divine cloud, the Shekhinah. As we set out on the journey we talked about so many of the images of the journey of Moses and the people of God - the divine cloud, the wildnerness, Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments, the tent of Meeting, the people grumbling and wanting to turn back. And in the midst of their trials and tribulations Moses grew in his intimacy and friendship with God. Jesus called his disciples "friends" and he calls each of us to friendship and intimacy with him. And that means for us a journey to the wilderness, the place of aloneness with God to be freed from the distractions of the world that can so easily choke and consume us. For 40 years years Moses and the people of Israel wandered through the desert... Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness before starting his ministry. And now, in these 40 days of Lent, we are invited to enter into a renewed intimacy and friendshio with God and each other.

Moses  used to take the Tent and pitch it outside the camp, at some distance from the camp.  He called it the Tent of Meeting.  Anyone who had to consult the Lord would go out to the Tent of Meeting, outside the camp.  Whenever Moses went out to the Tent, all the people would rise.  Every one would stand at the door of thier tent and watch Moses until he reached the Tent;  the pillar of cloud stationed at the entrance to the Tent, all the people would rise and bow low, each at the door of their tent.  The Lord would speak with Moses face to face, as a person speaks with their friend. 
- Exodus 33:7-10.

Our first stop was the Greek Orthodox church of St George in the city of Madaba which contains a famous mosaic map of the Holy Land dating back to the year 560.

A modern reproduction of the mosaic map

A couple of portions of the map

Some of the other icons of the church... the legend of St George slaying the dragon, a metaphor to remind us to fight to overcome evil. Icons are in invitation to look beyond and to enter the mystery of God

The Annunciation - Let it be done unto me according to your word

Laying Jesus in the tomb - a moment when all appeared to fail but at the same time the call to look beyond

Our Lady of the Helping Hand

We then went to Mount Nebo, where Moses looked into the Promised Land as recounted in the Book of Deuteronomy...

Leaving the plains of Moab, Moses went up Mount Nebo, the peak of Pisgah opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land; Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the stretch of the Valley of Jericho, city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.  The Lord said to him, 'This is the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying: I will give it to your descendants.  I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not cross into it.'  There in the land of Moab, Moses the servant of the Lord died as the Lord decreed; he buried him in the valley, in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but to this day no one has ever found his grave.  Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye undimmed, his vigour unimpaired.  The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days.  The days of weeping for the mourning rites of Moses came to an end.  Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him.  It was he that the children of Israel obeyed, carrying out the order that the Lord had given to Moses.

Since then, never has there been such a prophet in Israel as Moses, the man the Lord knew face to face.  What signs and wonders the Lord caused him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh and all his servants and his whole land! How mighty the hand and great the fear that Moses wielded in the sight of all Israel!

- Deuteronomy 34:1-12

It seems really harsh doesn't it... the great friend of God being denied what he had worked towards for 40 years. So often we feel God should do what we want for ourselves or those we love... but life is not like that, and God is not a Harry Potter God who magically makes things better. Moses was called to look beyond and to trust in God he knew face to face...

For our Gospel we reflected on the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up brought healing to the people of Israel so the Son of Man who is lifted up on the cross brings healing to us... We know he healed the sick and forgave sinners, and he died to save us and raise us up. 

Jesus said to Nicodemus:

Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,

so the Son of Man must be lifted up

so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.

Yes, God loved the world so much

that he gave his only Son,

so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost

but may have eternal life.

For God sent his Son into the world

not to condemn the world,

but so that through him the world might be saved.'

- John 3:13-17

With that in mind, and with the great symbol of the serpent on the standard outside the Church we celebrated the Anointing of the Sick during our Mass where we joined by a young French couple and a young couple from the Czech republic.

As a last reflection at Mount Nebo I suggested that people look to the Promised Land as Moses did and think of broken dreams... spouses, children or relationships lost, doubts and fears in the midst of trials, and think how God is faithful to his promises in ways we could never imagine for Moses did not enter the Promised Land over the Jordan, rather he entered a greater Promised Land,

Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit… May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.

Behold... look beyond

The ancient mosaics of the earlier church

Looking beyond the Dead Sea and the Jordan River to the Promised Land 

The Valley below where Moses was somewhere buried some 3500 years ago

We then descended down to the Dead Sea, 427 metres below sea level...

As Moses and the people of Israel lived in tents in the wilderness to the Bedouin continue to do so today

Mum and her new baby

Jesus said to his disciples: 'When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. Why does the shepherd separate the sheep and goats? For milking! A new insight for me into the Scriptures 

Grace us O Lord that we might look beyond into the mysteries of You the Living God who is always faithful to your promises