"...I'm the One that healed you."
This is a story that I first heard many years ago. I was attending a service at Masjid Wm. Salaam, on Vimey Ridge Road, Norfolk, Va. I can still see the imam’s face but, regretfully, I can't remember his name. The story, however, has stayed with me from then until now.
The story related to the Exodus of Moses and the Israelites from Egypt following centuries of bondage and oppression. But, more specifically, it focused on man's arrogance and belief in 'false' idols.
"You put your trust in the tree…"
Moses led the people out of Egypt. That story is both well documented and fairly well known. Many also know how the people corrupted themselves after Moses ascended the Mount to commune with God, and where he would later receive the 10 Commandments, the Law written by the very hand of God. They know of the Golden Calf and the fall from Grace. But one story, this story isn't about what you know. Nope, this story isn't deliverance or redemption. This story is about what happened in between. This story is about an incident that took place during the 40 years of wondering aimlessly through the wilderness.
Forty years! Forty years is a long time by any account. But it is even longer, I think, when you are wondering aimlessly around a wilderness as unforgiving as the desert. A dry, barren wasteland devoid of comfort and if one gets lost, can strip hope from will. Such was the lot of the Israelites, who had placed the sum of their trust in their leader, Moses.
Now, as has already been mentioned, forty years is a long time. And somewhere during that span, Moses became ill with a severe stomach disorder that cause him a great deal of pain. But in that hour, Moses didn't hesitate -- he called out to God for assistance and relief. And as God had already done so many times before, He did then. Speaking directly to Moses, God said, "Moses, span the horizon before you. Do you see that lone tree sitting off in the distance?" Moses looked and spotted the lone tree and said, "Yes Lord, I see it." Then God commanded Moses to go to that tree. And once there, remove from it a small portion of bark and boil it. Moses did as he was instructed to do. And when the broth was ready, God commanded him to drink it. Taking the cup to his lips, Moses drew in the hot drink and as it entered his body his pains began 'slowly' to subside. Moses was cured.
But forty years is a long time and somewhere during that time Moses again became ill. He again felt the stagnating pains resonating from within his stomach. Pains that hindered his movement, and slowed his pace. Yet this time Moses did not call out to God for relief. No. This time Moses spanned the horizon until he spied a tree similar in appearance to that first tree. And upon reaching it Moses repeated the process of the first experience.
But this time -- this time when he drew the cup to his lips in drink in the broth... This time was different. For this time the broth did not enter Moses' body before he felt its affects. This time the broth merely touched his lips and at that moment Moses' pain intensified so severely that it caused him to fall, face first upon the desert floor. From there, with his face pressed into the burning sands, from there Moses called out to God saying, "My Lord, why hast thou forsaken me?" And the words of God, as if riding upon the winds, spoke to Moses in a calm and soothing voice saying, "Moses, you put your trust in that tree. I am the One that healed you.”
The moral of this story:
Everyday we human beings place our trust in so many things. We are mindful of their importance in our lives, but absent of the One who has made many of those things possible. There in a line in the Qur'an that reads, "In God let those who trust, put their trust." Amen.
Until next time -- "Stay Safe and Be Blessed.”
Peace