I’m reading a book about slavery in the global economy titled Disposable People by Kevin Bales.  It’s easy to get completely overwhelmed at the sheer enormity of the issue and simply become paralyzed.  Have any other issues like that?  Yeah…me too.  That is until I look a little higher…

I was thinking about Moses.  Moses, a Hebrew boy rescued from death when his parents put him in a basket, grew up in the palace of Pharaoh,  a ruler that was considered a god by all in Egyptian society.  I mean really, your step-dad is a god.  Think of all the things at your disposal.  The power, the pride…you’d probably have a pretty inflated ego.  You had the best of everything from education to women to whatever…it’s all yours for the taking.

Until… He’d had a stirring in his heart to help the plight of his enslaved Hebrew  brethren and went so far as to murder an Egyptian for hitting a slave.  Instead of his fellow Hebrews embracing him for such a heroic act they basically said “who are you?  You gonna kill us too?”  So he fed the country.

Now stick said guy into the backside of a desert and make him herd sheep for 40 years.  Where’s your ego now?  Yeah, pretty demoralizing but almost to the point of swinging the pendulum too far in the other direction.

Suddenly Moses has a divine encounter in the desert: a burning bush that never burns completely up.  I would imagine that things burst into flames regularly in the desert; however this one wasn’t consumed and that’s what piqued his interest.  Couple that with a voice comin outta the fire askin you to go and free the slaves of Egypt and you’ve got yourself a rather unique experience in the making.  Needless to say, Moses balked.

You see some of us can have inflated or deflated egos based on what somebody has told us in the past.  We can begin to identify ourselves in an unhealthy manner based on what other humans have said.  Moses was telling God, “I, I, I, I, and I can’t do what your asking.”  (Emphasis on the “I”) Now where have I heard THAT before?  Yeah comin outta my own mouth.  God’s response?  “YOU aren’t the issue here; I AM.  Now get your eyes fixed on me so you can go do what I’ve created you to do.”

He did and God did…I pray we do too…get absorbed…n

I was at a funeral recently with my three kids ages 10, 7 and 6 .  The deceased was the elderly father of a dear friend of ours and it was a great relief that this man was now in heaven.

Funeral’s have their own strange vocabulary and atmosphere.  Let’s face it, most people are not big fans of funeral homes and picking out a funeral plots isn’t normally something you do on a date night.  Open caskets and dead bodies make it a rather uncomfortable place for all of us.

Unless of course you’re my 6-year-old.  He’s been to a number of funerals in his little life (comes with the pastoral territory) and I’ve always wanted my children to be unafraid of death.  My Bible says that death, true death has no power over me and I want my kids to see that although the shell or tent of a man/woman is dead, their spirit is forever and shells are nothin to be afraid of.  That’s a regular discussion at our house.

My wife was outta town so it was just my two eyes watching 6 hands as we approached the casket.  I was talking to our friend, when I noticed a small finger reaching out and poking the forehead of the deceased.  Stopping my conversation, I turned to the prodder of the dead.  “What’s he feel like, Cart?”

“He feels funny, Dad.  Kinda cold and squishy.  Can I touch his hair?”

“Sure.”

We talked for a bit more (mind you our friend was very ok with all of this, gently patting his beloved father on the chest while all this is happening) and left the funeral home.  The kids had their normal questions and I did my best to answer them but I’m most thankful for the fact they are comfortable twith the dead.

I often wonder if Christians don’t share Jesus simply because they are uncomfortable around the spiritually “dead.”  Cool thing is that when our “life” touches their “death,” they can be restored.  But you gotta touch ‘em first.  Might be cold and squishy…get absorbed…n