Living in the Spirit
August 19, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Exodus 1:8-2:10 

The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. ‘This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,’ she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?’ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Yes.’ So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, ‘because’, she said, ‘I drew him out of the water.’—Exodus 2:5-10

One person rescued one child and in so doing changed the course of history. We each may have that opportunity at some time in some place. We never know when the simplest act of kindness can result in a mountain being moved.

Back in the early 1980’s my boss was diagnosed with AIDS. There was not a whole lot know about AIDS at that time and thus there was a whole lot of fear regarding it. He spent several days in the hospital with the illness that brought the condition to light and it was several days before he returned to work. By that time his condition was common knowledge throughout out building. We had had meetings with and distributed pamphlets to our staff assuring them that the disease was not contagious through normal contact. Some did not believe it. One told me that she knew it was highly contagious but that God would shield her from getting it. There was an already scheduled senior staff meeting that included about 100 people on the day my boss returned to work. I walked into the nearly full room with him when our very gregarious and loving nurse who headed our in-home care program for the elderly came flying across the room and gave my boss the biggest hug declaring for all to hear how happy it was to see him back. No angel had ever rendered “fear not” more profoundly.

I doubt if Pharaoh’s daughter had a lot of power but she had enough to keep one child safe. In a world where justice rest on a delicate ledge, we are all called to do whatever we can to keep it from failing.

Prayer: God grant me the courage to do what I can to make justice a reality throughout the world. Amen.