Lenten Meditation: March 15, 2024
Daily Scripture Passage: Exodus 2:1-22
He answered, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” — Exodus 2:14
Our Exodus reading today does not tell us how people found out that Moses had killed the Egyptian. Moses had “looked this way and that,” and thought he was alone, when he committed murder. But people knew.
As I grow older, I have realized that my own deepest insecurities and fears are visible to the people around me. No matter how much I try to hide them, everyone around me already knows. Ironically, it is often the effort to hide or deny my weaknesses that in turn reveal them to others.
This is a humbling truth, but it is also a liberating one.
If we know we cannot hide whatever we feel most insecure about ourselves—if we realize that they are visible not only to God, but also to everyone around us—then we no longer have to pretend. We can put down our defenses. We might even begin to take ourselves (and our opinions) less seriously and less self-righteously. We might even admit (or, to use a churchy word, confess) these weakness to ourselves, to God, and to those around us, thereby releasing their power over us. We might even finally learn to walk humbly with our God.