Today in the 1st reading from Exodus, we see how the Israelites were unhappy about leaving Egypt. They hated the food on this journey, and they were thirsty, and they missed their homes, and and and…. Well, change is hard. Being uprooted and moving, no matter if the move is for the better, it is scary. We are unhappy and tend to remember where we were as though we are wearing rose-colored glasses—everything was fine where we were. I know this all too well. My husband and I moved just over three months ago from our home of 38 years into a retirement community. It was the right thing to do, but I still miss things about my former house. And a few weeks ago, we moved my mother-in-law from one elder care facility to another. She is not adjusting well. The move, after 11 years, is hard. It is the right thing to have done for her, but that does not make it easier. She complains about the food, her room, and just about everything—very like the Israelites! It is times like this that I thirst for the “living water” Jesus promised the woman at the well in John’s Gospel. I need to trust that God will give me the strength I, my mother-in-law, and all who are uprooted, need to make the transition. Trust. Trust. Trust. That is what I need. Jesus is the promised Messiah. With him as my guide, I will come out on the other end, and it will be fine.
