He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold,
and cast an image of a calf;
and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
—Exodus 32.4
Panicked, trying to make sense
of loss, change, threat,
they turned, of course, to the familiar,
something solid, secure, visible,
looking good—a little gold is always nice.
Easy things we turn to:
productivity, respectability, success.
Something to show.
Having it, or at least the image of having it.
Easy to worship our own Stuff.
What’s yours?
But God freed us from slavery
to our stuff.
We were looking for a way
through our troubles, back to normal.
But Inexorable Love
won’t lead us back, but onward.
Probably to more troubles.
But free. Even from our own stuff.
Wilderness. A way without a path.
Nothing but the love
that will never let go of us,
so we can let go of our stuff,
and go.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
October 7, 2020