In the Book of Exodus, chapter 3, it is written: Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of [God] appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; [Moses] looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up. When [God] saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here I am [God] said, I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. And so it begins that God intervenes on behalf of the Hebrew people, who have been enslaved by the Egyptians and their Pharaohs for four hundred years. Now, because Divine purpose works through human hearts and hands, God sends Moses to confront Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt. God promises to give Moses strength of conviction and the power of wonderworking to prove to the Egyptians and Hebrews alike that he s the real deal. And, that doesn t go too smoothly. Let me read you African-American poet, diplomat, and activist James Weldon Johnson s version of the scripture, offered to me from our own Ed Lane. This is from Johnson s work God s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse, from the sermon entitled Let My People Go, like we sang this morning: Moses with his rod in hand Went down and said to Pharaoh: Thus saith the God of Israel, Let my people go.
And Pharaoh looked at Moses, He stopped still and looked at Moses; And he said to Moses: Who is this [God]? I know all the gods of Egypt, But I know no God of Israel; So go back, Moses, and tell your God, I will not let this people go And Pharaoh called the overseers, And Pharaoh called the drivers, And he said: Put heavier burdens still On the backs of the Hebrew Children. Then the people chode with Moses, And they cried out: Look here, Moses, You ve been to Pharaoh, but look and see What Pharaoh s done to us now. And Moses was troubled in mind. But God said: Go again, Moses, You and your brother, Aaron, And say once more to Pharaoh, Thus saith the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go. And Moses and Aaron with their rods in hand Worked many signs and wonders. But Pharaoh called for his magic men, And they worked wonders, too. So Pharaoh s heart was hardened, And he would not, No, he would not Let God s people go. And God rained down plagues on Egypt, Plagues of frogs and lice and locusts, Plagues of blood and boils and darkness, And other plagues besides. But ev ry time God moved the plague 2
Old Pharaoh s heart was hardened, And he would not, No, he would not Let God s people go. No, not an auspicious beginning to God and Moses freeing the Hebrew people from enslavement. But, many of us remember how the story ends: after all ten terrible plagues on the Egyptians, God leads Moses who leads the Israelites out through the desert to the Sea of Reeds, and a miracle happens; the water parts so that the Israelites can cross on dry land out of Egypt. The Pharaoh and his armies attempt to follow the Israelites between the parted seawaters, but drown when the sea closes over them. As James Weldon Johnson ends his poem-sermon: Listen!-- Listen! All you [children] of Pharaoh. Who do you think can hold God s people When God has said, Let my people go? We can see why this biblical story has resonated so strongly with African- Americans for so many generations here in the United States, yes? And I wonder, for all the children of Pharaoh over the ages, who have enforced enslavement in many ways, why they think they can hold God s people, when God declared that all beings of creation are good, that all people are created in the image of the Holy and thus have inherent worth and dignity. How does it happen that there are those who believe they can dominate and oppress other people? In Johnson s poem and the biblical text we find a phrase about Pharaoh, that when he s asked to do the right thing to give the Israelites their freedom even though it d be more costly to pay Egyptian workers, even though for generations Egypt had flourished on the backs of free Israelite labor, even though it was assumed the Hebrews were less than human, even though a society built on slavery was business as usual In the Book of Exodus, it is written that when Pharaoh is asked to let God s people go, his hardened heart prevents him from doing so. 3
A hardened heart could be described as a heart that does not, or refuses to, feel. As we heard from Jewish author Elie Wiesel, a hardened heart is an indifferent one: The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference ; the opposite of education is not ignorance, it is indifference; the opposite of beauty is not ugliness, but indifference; the opposite of life is not death, but indifference. A hardened heart is indifferent to the plight of others, to truth, to righteousness. A hardened heart simply operates on business as usual, no matter how wrong that business is. How did Pharaoh get this way? Because it s not explicit in the biblical narrative, we have to imagine how Pharaoh has lived, how he s been brought up. Have any of you seen the classic Heston film, The Ten Commandments? Or, the newer animated picture, The Prince of Egypt? In both films, we see Pharaoh Ramses the Second grow up privileged in the house of his father, accustomed to the supremacy of the Egyptian people and religion, accustomed to his family getting everything they want. Pharaoh was trained from a young age to harden his heart against those below him in the social order, trained to banish natural empathy from his heart, trained to believe that such wrong indifference was normal, good. Twentieth-century psychoanalyst and Jewish humanist Dr. Erich Fromm wrote, What the biblical text stresses here is one of the most fundamental laws of human behavior: every evil act tends to harden [a person s] heart, that is, to deaden it. Every good act tends to soften it, to make it more alive. The more [a person s] heart hardens, the less freedom does [s]he have to change; the more is he determined by previous action. It s easy for us to look back at the biblical account of the Egyptians, or European and Euro-American slaveholders and slave traders, and know that their hearts had been hardened against the suffering of enslaved Hebrews, Africans, and indigenous peoples. We can also see those whose hearts have been hardened in our modern times, in people for whom callous behavior has become a habit, because of the way our society and culture are arranged. I think about those in the financial sector who contributed to the massive economic recession in 2008, all the people who were part of the subprime mortgage crisis because they were told to prioritize profit over people. I think about slaughterhouse workers who kill tens of thousands of animals a year to supply the meat sold at most grocery stores and served at most restaurants. I think about the soldiers our country sends off to 4
war over ideology and oil, police officers and teachers who are sometimes trained to fear and profile the very people whom they are called to serve. And, how badly would Pharaoh feel if he let his heart feel the suffering he and his family caused the Israelites, hundreds of thousands of parents, children, cousins? A hardened heart experiences neither empathy nor joy, appreciates neither beauty nor sorrow, does not feel pain. If we soften our hearts, we make ourselves vulnerable to pain, real suffering in our own lives and in the lives of others, worst of all those other beings whom suffer from our own actions or inactions. Perhaps upon reflection, each of us can see ways that our hearts have been hardened toward a particular idea, being, or group. We don t want to feel so badly. So, how to do we choose, as Elie Wiesel did, to work toward the end of suffering for all people? How do we prevent the hardening of our hearts, or soften what has become calcified? I have three practices for us: The first practice is of loving-kindness toward ourselves and toward others. Pharaoh never let himself repent for his wrongs and extend compassion toward the Israelites. To soften our hearts, we have to take care of ourselves, and selfcare is quite individual; for some of us, it might be getting outside or reading poetry, it might be meditation and prayer, it might be reserving time for family and friends, for visiting museums or making music. It always includes getting enough sleep, eating well, getting exercise, remembering that we are each created good, worthy, in the image of the Divine that the Divine is reflected in each of us. And then, with a softened heart toward ourselves, we extend that loving-kindness to others: our family members, friends, neighbors, strangers. As Dr. Erich Fromm wrote, every evil act tends to harden [a person s] heart, that is, to deaden it. Every good act tends to soften it, to make it more alive. The second practice is of gratitude. Pharaoh was brought up to believe himself to be both ruler and a god incarnate. How could he feel grateful for all that was afforded to him, if he felt entitled to his whole world? To soften our hearts, we can be humble and thankful for all the good that comes into our lives: people who love us; moments of grace, good fortune, and random acts of kindness; the first seventy-degree spring day. We can make a practice of remembering all 5
we have to be grateful for by sharing joyful stories with our loved ones, or keeping a gratitude journal, or including thanksgiving in every prayer and meditation. The third practice is of cultivating community. Pharaoh was lonely in his lofty place of power; his advisors were yes-men, because, after all, who can advise a god? To soften our hearts, we can choose to connect with others who will admire our gifts and talents, who will challenge and encourage us in the ways we need to grow, and who will comfort us when our hardened hearts get broken open to pain, to loss, to love. Unitarian Universalist minister Rev. Tom Schade writes, I am a minister, and you pay me to tell you ridiculous, unimaginable and idealistic things Well, today the wild and ridiculous thing I have to say is that one of the obstacles to love in your life is the hardness of your heart a hardness that shows itself in choosing to be indifferent to others; to let the door close and hide what suffering comes The ridiculous and crazy thing I have to say today is that you can build the habits of love, with yourself and in the network of your friends and fellow citizens, by choosing another way. You can choose to let love put its foot in the closing door in your mind to think more clearly and with more focus on the pain and suffering of others that in the past you have chosen to not think about. Choose today to love. Let s choose to let love put its foot in the closing door of our minds. Will you take another moment to enter into the spirit of prayer with me? Spirit of Life and Love, our hearts offer this prayer from Reform Jewish rabbi Chaim Stern: For the times when I could have made peace with my neighbor, but picked a quarrel, forgive me; And, forgive me, too, For the time when I could have accepted with grace An offering of friendship or reconciliation But did not choose to listen. At times, in my willfulness, I may have closed my heart to the possibility of a healing word: 6
Today and tomorrow Let my heart be open. May our hearts not be closed to healing words, healing companionship, healing touch; may our hearts not be closed to beauty and to peace; may, instead, our hearts be soft and open. Blessed be, and amen. 7