In the Mist
Tonight begins the 46th Day of the Omer (May 28-29, 2006), which is six weeks and four days of the omer. May that part of me that is broken in Netzach in Malkhut be healed on this day.
February, 1984 Photograph by Suzanne Pemberton
A midrash says Moses spent 40 years in Egypt, then 40 years as a shepherd, and finally 40 years as the leader of the Jewish people. Netzach in Malchut correlates to the 40 years he was a shepherd. It was a period of deep learning, of inner work, and of not knowing what his ultimate life work would be.
The photograph shows a clear path bounded by the misty lake and trees. I am between the mist and the path. Though the path provides direction and clarity, the mist is also helpful. For the feet following the path are not the feet of a leader. The leader in me is still forming, and the mist is critical in helping my message to be birthed.
Patience.
Comments
2 comments postedIt must be this midrash that gives the Christians' Book of Acts the authority to say that Moses was forty when he fled Egypt. I know the Torah says that Moses was eighty when he saw the bush and that he was 120 when he died.
Anyway, this breakdown of Moses' life has always meant a great deal to me. The simplicity and assertiveness of a young prince, the deep inner working "behind the wilderness," as Fox has it, and the greater calling only hinted at during the first forty years -- these stages of Moses' life have given me a framework to understand my own path.
Your post might just as easily be called, "In the Midst." The photograph is quite telling, and the post is beautifully written. I'm mentally borrowing your photograph and inserting myself in it to serve as a subject for meditation.
Peter, thanks. I actually almost changed the title to "In the Midst" or "In the Mist/Midst" when I posted it. So we were thinking along similara lines.
I speak here without having done the research but... don't make the assumption that the Jewish midrash pre-dated the reference in the Book of Acts.
It is very easy to proclaim that at 25 I was in my shepherd stage. In my 40's approaching 50 it feels a scarier proposition to move into the role of leader. Shai