Snakes—or toilet brushes? (Yitro)

This past Monday, we remembered the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. Also, Desmond Tutu died just before the new year.

Both of these men had great faith in God and in humanity. They believed in the possibility of achieving justice and equal rights—freedom and transformation—and never stopped until they died.

If you remember, last week in Torah, the Israelites walked to freedom through two walls of water as Moses parted the sea with his staff.

Moses’ staff is a very important symbol of transformation. Back when Moses was asking God, “How will I prove to others that you’re for real?” God demonstrated his power by turning Moses’ staff into a snake. (Or better yet, maybe Moses’ staff became a toilet brush for those toilets of mine that needed a good scrub last week!)

This week, now in the desert with hundreds of thousands of Israelites, Moses is struggling with his responsibility and leadership. All these people depend on him for his knowledge about God and to manage their legal disputes.

Moses must learn to delegate, and it’s his father-in-law, Jethro (Yitro), who imparts such wisdom to him. Jethro comes with wisdom around leadership as a priest, but also brings Moses’ wife and children; “Don’t forget your family,” is this piece of wisdom.

But Jethro also now understands that “God” is greater than all other gods. Having heard of all the wonders God did for Moses’ people, he now believes. He now has faith.

The Israelites, for their part, also hear. Moses is instructed to bring them to the foot of Mt. Sinai where they witness and hear God through thunder and lightning. And they hear God’s voice as he gives over the ten commandments, one of which is not to worship false gods—to remember that everything, though seemingly separate, is interconnected and One.

Terrified and trembling at such a spectacle, they now have faith in the One God.

I can’t believe that it’s less than two years ago that the Black Lives Matter movement was full of energy. Those voices could be heard loud and clear—as a powerful One. Back then, white voices willing to talk about race and take responsibility for racism were loud and clear.

Now, it seems like a distant past. The voices of racism have gained power.

Now, there are laws in several states prohibiting the teaching of Critical Race Theory. Many other states are moving toward such bans, which often include any kinds of books that point to slavery, Jim Crow, or the Civil Rights Movement.

Many white parents proclaim their fear that their children could be “harmed” by making them “uncomfortable.”

They declare that Racism is no longer a “thing.” (Listen to Talking While Black on This American Life—it’s fascinating, absurd and disturbing!)

Yet today, we can still hear God’s voice crying out for One-ness.

We, like the Israelites, hear it through huge, destructive storms, often with loud claps of lightning and thunder like we only rarely used to hear. God is telling us to take care of our precious earth, and with greater frequency and more urgency.

We hear it through contemporary, sometimes thundering voices similar to Martin Luther King, but more often in the collective voices of people in the streets shouting for equality and justice for all people, not just the privileged and the white.

Those voices may not be as loud or as powerful at the moment as those seeking to separate and divide us, to worship false gods—but we must not lose faith. We mustn’t forget the power of our voices together. Marin Luther King and Desmond Tutu would be very disappointed if we did, after all that was achieved and all the lives sacrificed.

We must not forget the power of transformation, not just of symbolic transformations like staffs turning into snakes, but a real awakening of our all belonging to One Human Family and to Earth.

And can we say, Amen?