While we are travelling with Moses it would be interesting to draw some comparisons between this two-man (himself and Aaron) movement and the March in March of the last weekend that saw thousands of the disaffected gather nationwide in protest against Government policies that have been swift and draconian in their implementation.
Both were bids for release – Moses to free his people (good to see Andrew Forrest’s success in picking up the anti-slavery mantle) and March in March to free a range of policy areas from cut-backs and unseemly intervention. There is a difference though – Moses’ was a courageous stance against institutionalised tyranny and….. March in March …. which lens do we look through? One lens sees it as healthy and robust exercise of the democratic right to speak to our government representatives. Another lens might see it as a brave voice of dissent against the real powers that rule over us – namely global corporations that muffle the voices of the people.
It was no surprise that the March in March protests went largely unreported in the mainstream media. The talkback radio I heard the following day seemed to reflect a concerted campaign to malign the protesting crowds by focusing on radical fringe groups that were present, ignoring the majority of ordinary families that had come out for the day. Maybe the peoples’ protests have more in common with Moses than is immediately apparent.
Lent calls us to constant awareness in the struggle to live for the common good. Exodus 17:1-7 sees that even Moses had trouble holding his people together for common purpose. His new found identity as a leader following “I Am Being Who I Am Being” saw him through a series of confrontations and challenges with the Pharaoh, ultimately defeating him. He barely survived the bitterness and quarreling of those he led.
Wondering Pilgrim 