+Z’ev

Today’s assigned readings:
Genesis 41:14-45, Romans 6:3-14, John 5:19-24

It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. After them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume the land. The plenty will no longer be known in the land because of the famine that will follow, for it will be very grievous.
Genesis 41:28-31

One thing that strikes me - over and over - about the prelude to the Exodus story (from Joseph’s slavery onward) is that everyone is sure God is acting, but no one knows why.

Later Joseph will be quite certain that God (and not Joseph’s brothers) brought Joseph to Egypt in order to save Jacob and his family. After that, however, when slavery has set in, it looks rather different. After that, however, when the Exodus comes, the entire picture changes again. Did God cause the famine in order to drive Jacob to Egypt exactly so that the people of Israel would be enslaved exactly so that God could rescue them with the Passover? Was all this planned from the very beginning?

Or does it just look that way?

Walking with my (then) housemate, Dan, along the West Side Highway in NYC, we ran into my friend Alex, coming from the other direction. We had a fun day that, ultimately, resulted in me getting a tattoo. Later that week, I wrote a story about all the things that had to happen in order to bring Alex into contact with Dan and I at that moment. Ultimately I was able to pin it on the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt: because Dan was Jewish.

In hindsight, everything is, really, 20/20.

Until the next thing happens.

And Alex commits suicide, and I’m left standing on a ladder in Borders Books (San Francisco) crying because I saw the Tattoo he gave me, wondering why there was nothing I could do about his sadness.

And for a while, everything seems clear until the next thing happens.

I recently picked up my entire life and moved to Buffalo, NY, in order to be closer to Brodie, my intended. Right now it all looks like chaos - and although I have the temerity to make plans for the future. Hindsight is 20/20 until the next thing happens.

I think that’s the way its supposed to be.

But does that mean that Joseph was right?
Or is saying “look what God has done” just a way to make sense out of things?

When I look at my life and say “look what God has done” is that just a way to bless what a mess I’ve made?

When the Telegraph was invented, it is said that the first message sent along the wires by Samuel F. B. Morse from Washington to Baltimore was “What hath God wrought?” (24 May 1844) Why blame God for this thing that, ultimately, has allowed me to post these messages on the internet for you to read? There is no way Morse could have guessed where his technology would lead: but I can now find you, via Google Maps, and, given the right access, I can get to most of you via CCTV. Most of you can find me on the internet or even via web cam. Is this a case of “What hath God wrought?” or more like “Look what we did?”

Is blaming God for the telegraph just a way to pin the blame on him for porn sites and identity theft?

An a couple of Generations, how will the Egyptians feel about magically knowing all about the famine? We’ll see.

Much love,

Huw