A Reflection for
XVIII Pentecost All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Southern Shores, NC
October 12, 2014 Thomas E. Wilson, Rector
The Old Man and
Aaron
The Old Man had been
up on the mountain in a retreat with God. Then he was aware of a
disturbing feeling inside himself. He told God that something seemed
to be wrong, and he could not shake the feeling. He knew he should
not have been gone so long. He picked up the tablets on which the law
had been carved and started down the mountain. As he came near to the
base, he started to hear the noise of celebration. Something was
indeed wrong; the people had promised him that they would fast and
pray for him while he was on top of the mountain, and now they seemed
to be playing music and dancing. He ran the rest of the way down the
mountain and saw the people feasting. He stormed into the tent
looking for Aaron who he had left in charge while Moses was gone.
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| Chagall's Moses and Aaron in the Museum in Nice |
The Old Man said,
“What have you done?”
Aaron got up from
his couch and offered his cup of wine to Moses and said, “Hey,
chill out man, you look like you ran down the mountain. We missed
you. How did your summit with God go?’
Moses said, “Fine
until I heard all this caterwauling and noise. What in God’s name
is going on?”
Aaron leaned back
and said; “Well, it is sort of like this. The people were getting
restless, and I made an executive decision that, since you weren’t
here and their faith was starting to waver, I thought I would help
them out. So I did a special collection and we made a god in the form
of a calf and covered it with the melted gold. Since the bull calf is
a sign of future fertility and good fortune, I thought I would make
this as an outward and visible sign of God’s promise to take us out
of Egypt and into the Promised Land.”
Moses said, “First
of all, you do not make gods, God makes you. God is the creator whom
we worship. We do not worship what we create. What you have created
is a wish fulfillment fantasy for the future instead of paying
attention to the fullness of the present.”
Aaron said, “What
does it matter as long as it gets you through the night?”
Moses said, “It
matters because you reduce God to your servant and reduce the
relationship with God so that it is based on utility, a contract
mentality of “what do I get out of this relationship?”. Contracts
are defined by mutual utility where the party of the first part
benefits in the exchange of services with the party of the second
part for mutual benefit. I was working out an extension of the
covenant God had made with Abraham.’
Aaron interrupted,
“Covenant or Contract; what is the difference?”
Moses replied, “A
covenant is based on mutual trust and love – not only in the good
times but when things all go south. It is not about what the parties
have to do, but it helps to define the relationship so each side
knows what the steps to the dance are.”
Aaron retorted,
“Dancing! Yes, that is exactly what we were doing. We were dancing
with joy.”
Moses corrected him,
“No, you were moving your bodies to get away from your fears and
anxieties and to get away from yourself and others. Real dancing is
when you pay attention to the person you are with, paying attention
to the music which fills your soul, and paying attention to the
sacred space between you.”
Aaron said, “I
thought our morale was getting low and we needed a party.”
Moses replied, “God
is hosting a banquet. A banquet where one sips God’s spirits to
taste the joy of life, where one pays honor to the host and to the
other guests and where we serve each other. We are here in the
wilderness but, like the old song goes, “God prepares a table
before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anoints my head with
oil; my cup runs over.” This is the banquet to which we are
invited, but you guys were dressed for another kind of party.”
Aaron complained,
“The song also said “makes me down to lie in green pastures.”
Look around you; do you see any green around you in the middle of
this wilderness?”
Moses said, “There
are none so blind that cannot see. The green pastures are here if one
will only look with the eyes of abundance instead of the eyes of
scarcity. Each morning we wake up in the valley of the shadow and God
says that God will dance with us through that valley and still the
waters of our anxieties. Today is the banquet. Come on – it’s
time to get ready for the party.
Aaron replied, “Hey,
let’s party hearty. Oh, by the way, can we keep the Golden Calf? It
really looks good even if I do say so myself.
Moses said, “Read
my lips – No Golden Calf. Got that? The trouble is that your eyes
will look to it instead, to a God outside yourself as if God were
something out there, somewhere else rather than in your very self. In
order to talk to God, you have to go deeper inside yourself. Let go
of all the stuff around you and go into your very soul; go into your
dreams and you will find God as your find your very self. On second
thought, forget about the party - let’s use the quiet time to clean
up the mess.”
The Old Man and
Aaron (Poem)
God singing, “No
Golden Calf”
No getting away
from yourself
Into wish
fulfillment fantasies
Rather into worship
of the Creator
No getting away
from yourself
Not worshipping
your creations
Rather into worship
of the Creator
Going deeper into
my very soul
Not worshipping
your creations
But finding one’s
true self
Going deeper into
my very soul
Dancing together in
the valley
Finding one’s true
self
Without wish
fulfillment fantasies
Dancing together in
the valley
God singing, “No
Golden Calf”.
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