Today, I watched “The Prince of Egypt” with my daughter and watching the story I realized that I’m starting to have a spiritual breakthrough in the same way that Moses did. I realized while watching that Moses learned to see with spiritual sight when he realized that he was not Egyptian, but Hebrew. He suddenly could see himself in each slaves’ eyes. He suddenly could feel their pain and their suffering. He suddenly understood that something had to change, that he had to do something to change the situation. When I read Exodus, it was clear to me that one man, with God, and faith can make an unbelievable impact on the world and in the lives of many.
While watching the movie, I was really taken back by the moment where he realizes that he is them and they are him. I’m seeing this more frequently in my own life as I am learning how to see more clearly and read people with compassion and empathy. As I sat and watched this, there was a moment in the film where he said something to the effect of, “I did not see because I did not wish to see.” This line struck me as incredibly true because I realize that in asking for clear sight, I am receiving. In Exodus, we get a slight feel for this awakening moment:
When he defends the Hebrew, by killing the Egyptian, I believe that he is in a sense of oneness with the Hebrews. He suddenly realizes that he is equal to them. He realizes that he could have been born in that situation had it not been for his extraordinary luck in having been placed in the situation he was in. He understands that he is no more deserving of his situation than they are of theirs. He is tormented at the thought of the inequality being experienced and it explodes out of him in vengeance toward the Egyptian who is beating a Hebrew slave in that moment. In that moment he feels the beating as if it were his own. He feels the pain in his body as he watches the situation and he reacts.
In the guilt of what he’s done (and possibly the guilt for having lived the life he’s lived while his people were killed and tormented as slaves), God comes to him to confirm that indeed something does need to be done as God feels the pain for his people as well. Through his guilt, I believe he learns to lean deeply on God. I think that is the turning point that allows his relationship with God to flourish and he begins feeling compelled to free his people. He feels compelled to make lemons out of the lemonade he feels that he’s, in some sense perpetuated. In my opinion, the burning bush is symbolism for the urgency with which he feels the need to act. It is a burning desire within his soul that he feels God has placed there, which leads him to overcome his hesitation and take action.
We see this in many great lives, they have a turning point where they realize that they cannot simply stand by and do nothing. They feel called or compelled to do the work that they are doing in an effort of making a difference in a situation that they feel is undesirable or unbearable. When I consider the story of Moses, I see that after finding out he is Hebrew, he experiences an identity crisis where he loses everything that he thought he was and is left to find himself in God. He is left to consider his whole life and what every event in his life has been leading him to become. In this, I believe he leans heavily on God and God shows him the path.
This is not unlike what I feel I have been experiencing this year. I feel that I’ve been called to a greater purpose, to follow my passion of writing, to change the world for the better with the one life I have been given through sharing insights that I’ve been gifted on the journey of my life. My goal is to help people become well, to lead healthy and fulfilled lives. My goal is to help people think higher and become their best selves through sharing my stories and reflections on other stories that I’ve had the benefit of seeing deeply into. My hope is that through this sharing, others will be inspired to reflect on their own lives, on their own emotions, and in turn find the healing that they need, which in turn will heal the world. Happy, whole, people who know they are loved cannot possibly contribute negatively to the world. My goal is to be the best vessel I can be for these insights that are not my own but have been gifted to me from a source greater than myself.
Namaste!
Have you turned your life over to a higher power? If so, what was the moment of reckoning for you where you realized you needed help? How has your life changed since? If not, what stops you?