Numbers 21:4-9

Lent 4 - Year B

Numbers 21:4-9

Impatience was the source of the snake biting and bronze snake raising. Impatience continues to be a source of intra-communal disputes as well as warring against defined enemies. We want answers and we want them now, a simple response is too process-oriented - presuming another response and another, instead of an easy comfort of a once-and-for-all answer.

Check your language to see if you are talking about giving or asking for an answer or a response. Expectations of ease lead us to attempt to short-circuit reality into utopia.

Imagine the out-of-the-frying-pan-and-into-the-fire comedy here. Such slapstick is almost too much.

Hey, this is taking too long!
     Oh, yeah? Here’s too long and too painful, too.
Hmm, on second thought we’ll take the too long by itself.
     OK, wisdom has begun.

So how might you come to the wisdom to deal with proximal responses instead of final solutions? I’m sure there’s a funny story involved with this shift.