A Reflection and Poem for XVI Pentecost (Proper 21) The Feast of St. Francis (Transferred)
September 28, 2014 All Saints’ Church, Southern Shores, NC Thomas E. Wilson, Rector
The
Old Man Drawing the Water Out of the Rock
The Old Man
named Moses, whose name meant “Drawn out of the water” is leading the Elders of
the Hebrew children to a place where he says there is water. The Elders are
getting a bit steamed, not only because it is hot but they are also getting lot
of heat from the people. They are not really fully out of water yet, but they
are getting anxious, and they whine, fuss, moan, and complain. Moses, the Old
Man, is getting tired of the job and is talking about heading back to Midian
and leaving this group of malcontents to find their own way. However, this is
just for show because the Old Man is lost himself. He doesn’t quite know where
he is; all he knows is that God is with him, but he wishes that God would make
it easier.
Suddenly the Old Man stops and listens, and after a
moment he says, “God tells me to have you guys wait here while I go up to the
rock yonder.” Moses is not all that sure he really heard that, but God seems to
speak to him in dreams, and last night he dreamed of a rock that looked like
that one. He walks to the rock and he wonders, “What am I to do now?”.
He doesn’t know. “All right,” he thinks, “let me
talk with the rock.” The rational part of him says “You are really losing it
boy!” However he decides to ask the question that he asked the rock in the
dream last night. He puts his hand on the part of the rock where there is an
overhang which casts some shade, and he feels the rock. It is hard, solid, and
old, made up of different layers and looks like a mixture of igneous and metaphoric
rock. That would suggest that a volcano spilled the energy from the depth of
the earth and that was partly covered with the sand of the wilderness and
compressed by tons and centuries of pressure.
An earthquake at some point set it free.
The Old Man asked the rock, “Who are you?”
The rock answered by singing: “I am a Rock - I am an
i-i-i-i-island! And a rock feels no pain and an island never cries.”
“Where did that come from?” the old Man queried.
The Rock said, “I forgot you humans can only see
time in a linear fashion, whereas I see it as a spiral. It is a song from two
Jewish boys, Simon and Garfunkel, who I thought you knew since you were Jewish
too. What do you want?
The Old Man said, “I need your help.”
The Rock said, “What - so you can use me, exploit
me, cut me up and use me to decorate your kitchens and bodies or use me for one
of your pyramids to celebrate yourself? I am happy just the way I am. As S and
G will sing thousands of years from now:
I've built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
Don't talk of love,
But I've heard the words before;
It's sleeping in my memory.
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
Don't talk of love,
But I've heard the words before;
It's sleeping in my memory.
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
The Rock stopped singing and said, “I don’t owe you
a thing.”
The Old Man said, “For an entity that wants to speak
for herself, you are using a lot of another’s words. The question remains, ‘Who
are you?’ Not the outer show you display, but who are you underneath that mask
you are wearing?”
The Rock shot back, “Who cares? Just leave me alone
in this God forsaken place.”
Moses said, “I can’t let you alone for I have my
hand on you and I feel the pain in you that you deny. You and I are connected.
When I had my encounter with God in another wilderness, the burning bush burned
away my isolation, and I could again feel the pain of my people in my very
soul. I can feel the longing of all creation to be united again - to enter into
the continuing encounter with our true self, who we were created to be. You are
a rock, and you were formed from the energy that was bursting when the Womb of
God spoke and she brought forth all of creation. You and I share the same star
dust of the light that shone in the darkness. God is not far away above the
heavens but right here in the sacred space between us. I call on you to change the
soul, the name, of this place from “God forsaken” to “God is with us”. Get over
yourself, for it is not about you but the God that lives within you. When you
share that divine nature, you become as God is - connected to all the suffering
of the world of animal, plant, or mineral. It is one of the reasons that we humans
pick up stones, to touch them and feel their deeper self in their hands. It is
one of the reasons we humans plant trees which bear no fruit we can eat but
which give beauty to the world we live in. It is one of the reasons we humans
have pets, to learn and show compassion. It is one of the reasons we humans
enter into community and relationships, for we are not meant to be alone in
this world.”
The Old Man paused and waited. He kept his hand on the rock and became aware
of the rock’s longing. Moses said, “You have a spring of living water deep
within you, from the core of your being. I ask you in the name of all that
binds us together to open yourself up to share that water with my people. The water
is a treasure given to you by God, not to be hoarded due to your private fear,
but for you, as a steward of that gift, to share with God’s entire world. I
have in my hand a staff that I used to part the Sea of Reeds; I will now touch
it to your side so that you might be no longer apart but healed, so that you
may give the treasure that is inside you. As you are healed, you have the
ability to share yourself if you choose, only if you choose to be a channel of
God’s peace.
And the water flowed and the people were healed of
their thirst and fear, and they knew in their souls that the Rock was called “The
LORD is with us”.
The
Old Man Drawing the Water Out of the Rock (poem)
Knowing that God is with me
I am stopping and listening
Coming to talk to the Rock
Deciding on asking questions
I am stopping and listening
Touching the depth of being
Deciding on asking questions
Sharing the same star dust
Touching the depth of being
We are not meant to be alone
Sharing the same star dust
Having living water deep within
We are not meant to be alone
Coming to talk to the Rock
Having living water deep within
Knowing that God is with me
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