Trouble with gold - May 5
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 45; PM Psalms 47, 48; Exod. 32:21-34; 1 Thess. 1:1-10; Matt. 5:11-16
The other day on PBS I watched an historical exploration of the California Gold Rush in the 1850s. Isaac Baker journaled about his “exotic time in California”. He went westward to strike it rich. Panning for gold was no easy task: leaning over a trickling brook, panning 6-7 days a week from sun-up to sun-down, and earning less than $6 per day (not quite $200 today). Baker observed that these throngs of people, who came from all over the world to make their fortune, were bawdy, reckless, and wild. His time as a goldminer was short-lived; he tried his hand at photography, for which he was better known, and then moved back East.
We have been reading in Exodus of Moses’ time upon Mount Sinai with God. As he descended the mountain, Moses found a bunch of revelry going on in the camp and saw them dancing around a false idol: the golden calf. Aaron, who had been left in charge, was confronted by his brother Moses: “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”
The people had survived exile and the wilderness with God’s protection and Moses’ leadership, but they had grown restless. They doubted if Moses would return and if God was truly faithful to them. They wanted new gods to lead the way. Aaron was not the best of leaders in that moment; he tossed their gold pieces into the fire – and voila! A golden calf emerged. Moses was raging and sought to bring order to the chaos. He didn’t have the latitude of Isaac Baker, changing roles upon seeing the degradation of goldminers. No, Moses was stuck leading this stiff-necked people and appealed to God to atone for their sins.
We humans don’t show the best versions of ourselves when we are exhausted, lonely, and desperate. Here we sit in 2020, waiting in uncertainty, like the Israelites at the bottom of Mount Sinai. When can we resume our normal routes and in-person connections? This lesson from Exodus invites me to reflect on what it means to trust in God’s faithfulness right now, when it is hard to be patient. I am reminded to be generous to others, gentle upon myself, and slow to judge in this time of stress. Today, let us push against the urge to turn toward empty idols for transitory comfort, and instead, stay focused on the message of light and life put forth in the hope of God.
-- Katherine+
Questions for Reflection
If you were in Aaron’s position, what would you have done?
Who encourages you to trust in God when times get hard?
Daily Challenge
Name a frustration that you feel today. Through prayer or quiet time, invite God’s message of light and life to shine upon that problem. What promise lies in the midst of this hardship?