Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places:

Greetings in the name and spirit of Jesus Christ!

“It reminds me of when the Israelites were caught between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea . . .”

I am part of a monthly Clergy Spiritual Direction group in Albuquerque where four of us, sometimes five, share the challenges and joys of being pastors, under the care of a psychologist/spiritual director who is accustomed to lives like ours.  It has been an amazing and supportive group for more than a decade.

This past week we talked about the election and what it might mean going forward.  It was here when my colleague finished his sentence: “. . . and God told the people to keep still.”

What?  Are you sure?  In this part of the Exodus story shouldn’t God be showing them the nearest exit instead?  To run and not walk?  Shouldn’t God be giving them some swimming lessons or at least some life preservers?  Regardless, whatever you do, don’t stop!

No, none of that.  God says to keep still.

The others nodded knowingly while I kept thinking that keeping still would be the last thing I would do.

I would most likely run in every direction and scream a bit and try my hand at some wailing.

This is why I find the Bible so fascinating. It is counter-intuitive to our nature.  It often says outlandish things about God and what God asks us to do.

We are to keep still.  There it is right in Exodus 14:14. When trauma and death are bearing down on us and we have literally nowhere to go, when terrified eyes, nervous movements, and pleading prayers are all we can muster, God says to keep still.

Don’t run away to another country.  Keep still.  Don’t simply hope it all goes away.  Keep still.  Don’t allow your mind to fill up with darkness.  Keep still.

The stillness helps us remember that God is still God.  Remember words of courage and to not be afraid.  Develop a mantra (mine is “show up, be kind, cherish the world”).  Remember Jesus heals.  Remember God always finds a way (always has, will so now).  Remember we are to live in community, support it (great thanks to all who pledge to do this!), and lean on one another.  Remember we have voices that do more than complain and wail.  Remember in life and in death we still belong to God.  Oh, yes, we do!  Keep still.

Ah, but don’t get too comfortable.  It lasts but half a verse.  In verse 15 God says to “go forward.”  Moses is to lift up his staff to divide the sea and the people will go safely through it.  And they did.

We can as well.  Because there will come a day when we again “live and move and have our being” as the early church writes in Acts 17 after their own trials, when the Egyptian army is no longer chasing us and the sea is no more, when all the former things we were afraid of have passed away, and neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore

But remember, according to Exodus, all of this doesn’t happen unless we first keep still.

Grace and peace,

Harry