Exodus 33:12-23

Pentecost + 18 - Year A

Exodus 33:12-23

Show me a coin with which to pay the taxes you are asking about.

Show me your glory which claims to know me by name.

Feeling trapped or frustrated? It is helpful to know what needs to be shown, not just talked about. Just know that even a showing doesn’t prove anything. Seeing Caesar’s face or not seeing G*D’s face is ultimately beside the point. Both will be false. Both will fade - Caesar from irrelevancy and G*D from meta-relevancy. Caesar will be left behind and G*D will be moving on.

So if this sort of tangibleness isn’t able to bear our search for meaning, where might we more fruitfully look in the moment.

The suggestion here is that our best bet is to focus on:

attending to goodness
showing mercy/kindness beyond bounds

Let’s not get caught with golden calves or coins of realm. Their very solidity will trap us into their shape.

It is enough to meditate for a moment in a rock’s cleft and then to come forth to catch up to a living, moving, presence beyond our settled doctrine, corrupted economy, and power-crazed political system. This presence will be revealed in the common good.