"The Moses in my heart trembles
not quite willing
to accept the prophet hidden in my being
wondering how much it will cost
to allow that prophet to emerge."
~Macrina Wiederkehr
I think I have written about Moses more than once in this space. I love Moses. I love how he was a reluctant prophet. How he felt almost anyone could do the job better than he could. How he tried so desperately to get out of doing what God was calling him to. He had the best excuses. He was not worthy, not good enough. His brother was a much better person to lead the children of Israel through the wilderness. He, after all, was just a shepherd,not a good speaker, a terrible leader unless you were a sheep.
But God would not let Moses off the hook. God saw the potential in this mumbling, wilderness walking character and said: "I choose you." And so Moses packed up all his insecurities and his excuses and headed off into the wilderness. The trip was filled with ups and downs, miracles and disasters, conflicts and resolutions, just like life. Moses succeeded and he failed, just like life. Moses spoke his truth in the midst of grumbles and full blown fights somehow coming to claim his prophetic voice in the presence of the sounds that threatened to overcome him.
Moses found a way to claim his inner prophet, a resident being we all possess but rarely claim. What is the prophetic voice living in the center of your chest? What message lives deep within you that only you can deliver? I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that simply said: Speak your truth, even if your voice trembles. I smiled and groaned simultaneously knowing that once again the Highway Spirit was sending me a sign. Speak your truth….even if your voice trembles.
This world, I believe, needs all our prophetic voices speaking truth with confidence and with trembling. Someplace deep within each of us is the voice that begs to be used, to be heard. Even if that voice begins with quaking, with shaking,it still holds power. Is this the day to speak your truth?
"O child of unnecessary shoes
cast them off
and stand in readiness
on this holy ground.
For the Egypt in people's lives
demands that you see the burning bushes
all around you
aflame
burning wildly
calling you
away from the comfort
of well-protected feet.
The ground you stand on is holy.
Take off your shoes!
Awaken your sleeping prophet.
Believe in your Moses
and go……"