Parting the Waters

It takes courage to attempt the impossible. What would we think of Moses today if when it was time to part the red sea, he had said, ‘Why don’t you guys go build a bridge?’

(Unknown)

I’ve been thinking about the age-old story in the Hebrew scriptures of the Israelites trying to escape from the Egyptian Pharaoh. They’re making a run for it, being led by Moses to freedom after having been held in captivity for a generation or so. As the story goes, thousands and thousands of them escape in the middle of the night, thinking they’ve made it to freedom. At a pivotal moment they are looking out at the Red Sea in front of them and realize that the Egyptian army is barreling down on them from behind. It would appear that there is no out, that they are stuck, that their fate is sealed.

But then Moses (visualize Charlton Heston…though I’m relatively certain Moses looked nothing like him) raises his staff and the waters of the sea part. Dry land appears through the middle and the Israelites venture across. Dramatically, as soon as they are on the other side, the Egyptian army enters this unexplainable pathway only to have the waters come crashing down upon them, drowning them, their horses, and their chariots and assuring the Israelites of safety and freedom (I digress here, but one of my all-time favorite movie scenes is in The Fellowship of the Ring where Arwen – a powerful and amazing elf-woman – rescues Frodo as the river crashes down upon the ring wraiths).

Let me be quick to say that my thoughts about this story have had little to do with the text itself, with the theological themes embedded in it, with the numerous tellings I’ve heard throughout my many years in the church. I’m thinking more about what it’s like to actually/metaphorically have waters part before me; what it’s like to believe in something enough to make amazing and seemingly miraculous things happen; what it means to believe that…

I am the miracle.

(Buddha)

I can feel my resistance to this idea; the part of me that immediately discounts my own power, that defaults to a believed inability to make amazing things happen, that distrusts my own part in the incredible things happening around me. But then I think of Moses (or Arwen). I picture the scene – complete with fear, panic, and the disbelief that things could be so complex and going this badly – a raised arm and waters parting.

Maybe part of the reason I’ve been thinking about this story is because it actually happened to me a couple weeks ago. Not literal waters, but it felt close. In the middle of The Reunion weekend, the two of us crossed the street and actually watched people move out of our way – to the side – apologizing for being in our way (which they weren’t) and making room for us to walk by – to their left, not their right as would be expected. We laughed when it happened. We wondered about some mysterious, magical aura that must have been around us causing them to physically step aside when such was not at all necessary. We wondered about what vibe we were sending out that said, “We’re coming through. Step out of the way. Waters are about to part.”

I’ve juxtaposed the visceral reality of this scene (filled with confidence, swagger, and living out loud) with my own tendency toward distrust of the good things I experience and/or have the capacity to bring about, my distrust of my own power to bring about exactly what I want in my life. And then I’m thinking that the reality of, or possibility in, the miracle is up to me. It’s not from some divine source or out-of-body thing that I can summon at will (or must be faithful or good enough to be worthy of). As Buddha says, it’s in me. It’s up to me to believe in it, to believe in the good things, to believe in myself.

I can part waters. I can see the circumstances before me – whether professionally, personally, financially, relationally – and wade into them. I can stand in my own strength and confidence, raise my arm, and trust. I can step forward, believing that I hold the power and miracle-wielding ability to make things happen, to enable my own freedom from captivity, to step into expansiveness, life, and an amazing present and future. And even better news? I don’t do all this alone. I am surrounded by fans, family, and friends who wait and believe and hope – sometimes with baited breath – to see me be the miracle they know me to be.

I can part waters. I can write the damn book. I can do what I love and actually make money. I can trust that when someone says they are choosing me that I am actually chosen (even though in that post’s particular reality I was not). I can be the miracle.

As 2010 approaches I plan to part waters. Indeed, as the quote above states, it takes courage to attempt the impossible. But I also believe in and have seen impossible things happen consistently, all the time, especially recently. Miracles, as they’re often called. I don’t have the time or patience to wait for bridges to be built. No, I intend to pay attention to and acknowledge the miracles that occur around me. What’s more I intend to create those miracles. And yes, thank you Buddha, I intend to be the miracle.

You can’t cross the sea by standing and staring at the water.

(Rabindranath Tagori)

Watch out. I’m going to part some waters. And if that weren’t enough, I actually think I look better than Charlton Heston.

Tagged as: courage, miracles, self-belief