The Butterfly Effect
Jerry and I live a 30 minute drive from almost anywhere we want go and I listen to CBC radio every time I am in the car. Anna Maria Tremonti has a podcast called 'More' and I heard a conversation last Thursday (my day to go to town).
These are emotional times for Naomi Klein. As an activist, she has fought a lot of big battles. But now she’s waging what may be the fight of her life — against climate change — and many days, the odds seem stacked against her. So what keeps her fighting? Whatever you do, don’t assume it’s because as a mom, she
wants to give her kid a better future. And what gives her hope? Turns out she doesn’t really relate to that word. “Our chances aren’t good,” she tells Anna Maria. She does, however, see “a pathway out of this crisis.” They talked about what it’s like to be on the frontlines of the fight for change — and the very emotional place it all started for Naomi Klein.
She went to a Climate Summit with Greta Thunberg in NYC that also included three other young activitists under 20 years old.. Naomi asked them to write a postcard from the future describing the world they want to live in. One participant wrote 'I can finally plan to have kids – and guess what? They don't have to be climate warriors like me, they get to be kids'.
This made me think – did the Hebrews in Egypt have an idea of their future?
Background of Exodus 1 & 2:
When Joseph brought his family to be with him in Egypt, Genesis relates: 'So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed'. Even at that time there was an underlying prejudice against the Israelites - as Hebrews and as shepherds. They lived in Egypt for about 70 years before the time of the 'new king'. There is considerable disagreement among the scholars as to the identity of this “new king, who did not know about Joseph”.
An Asiatic people of Semitic origin - related to the Hebrews - began to migrate into Egypt, eventually gaining control of the government at a time of weakness and confusion. The Hyksos ruled for about 150 years during the time of Israel’s sojourn in Egypt, from about 1700 to 1550 B.C. The Hyksos kings were “Egyptianized,” assuming the title of Pharaoh, and adopting the gods of Egypt but this 'new king' is not referred to as an Egyptian.
If indeed a small minority of Hyksos had gained control over Egypt, it is not a surprise that these “foreigners” would have had no knowledge of Joseph.
The King feared the numerical strength of the Israelites, and sought to diminish them. He feared that they would become allies with the enemy against their rule, and would overcome them and leave Egypt. Interestingly, everything Pharaoh feared came to pass, in spite of his diligent efforts to prevent it. The reason is, of course, that the Pharaoh’s plans were contrary to the purposes and promises of God with regard to His people.
Pharaoh’s plan, which was readily adopted by the people, was to enslave the Israelites, and to tighten their control over them. A substantial part of this plan seems to be that of intimidation and oppression, so demoralizing and frightening the Israelites that they would not dare to resist their masters. In addition, their value as slave labor would be utilized to strengthen the nation both economically and militarily. The storage cities of Pithom and Rameses were built by the Israelites with brick and mortar, and the fields were worked
by them as well. The Israelites, during Joseph’s lifetime, settled in Goshen, a fertile region in the Nile Delta. While we are not certain of the location of Pithom and Rameses, they were probably located in the Nile Delta. They were supply cities, and the fertile land of the Delta would provide abundant crops for storage. A location in the Delta would also make it unnecessary to relocate the Israelites before putting them to work on the supply cities.
For the readers of the Book of Exodus, Christian or Jewish, there can be no question as to the outcome. The descendants of Abraham living in Egypt have a purpose and a destiny that will not be cut off. They are part of a larger and more important narrative than the one by which Pharaoh hopes to purify his kingdom. At issue is the overarching question:
How will God remain faithful to his promises to Abraham to bless his
descendants and, through them, the entire world?
There is no other question in the Gospels or the Acts of the Apostles. We reread the Bible stories where the risks are many and throughout the Old and New Testaments human agents are used to propel the Promise through the ages. Patriarchs, prophets and saints need to say “yes” and we don’t know if they will. The promise may even need to be placed within a little basket of reeds daubed with pitch and bitumen and set out into the reedy edges of a great river. And yes – it all must matter to you, who are praying for your
churches and saying “yes” to your part in the story, who pray that your children remain part of the same narrative, who wonder how God’s people will ever find their voice in a world grown suddenly more unstable and chaotic.
What if we were to tell our people this Sunday -- from the pulpit -- that what they do this week will change the world? Would they believe us or doubt? Stand taller with hope or soon think of something else? We'll never know, of course, unless we try.
Now – Back to Exodus – CALL THE MIDWIFE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jsotgbHj__M
Two women once made a decision, took a chance, and changed the world. It was simultaneously a small gesture and heroic act. They disobeyed. And because of their act of disobedience God was able to rescue Israel from oppression. Their names were Shiphrah and Puah, the only people 'named' in this story. They have something to teach us all.
Because they were God fearers, they refused to obey the decree. Pharaoh found out about it and confronted them. They responded with a very creative fabrication: “Well, all-wise Pharaoh, you are right to be concerned about these Jews. The Jewish women are so vigorous that they give birth before we can get to them!” The text then says, “God dealt well with the midwives” - they both became pregnant. One of the writers I found in my study wrote 'In my ten years living in Russia I saw this jujitsu-like tactic employed often. Redirection is
more effective than direct resistance when one finds oneself in a minority position.'
Their's is a courageous act of civil disobedience that changes history, for one of the boys that is spared will be called Moses and he will lead the Israelites out of Egyptian captivity. He will deliver God's law to the Israelites and bring them to the promised land. And it all starts here, with two women willing to say "no" to an act of injustice. I doubt very much they thought they were changing the world. But they were, just by being faithful, by following the dictates of their hearts, by heeding the call of conscience.
The resistance doesn’t end with the midwives, though. Moses’ own mother figures out a way to save her baby from being killed by first hiding the child and then by putting him into a basket in the river. Moses’ sister escorts the little ark which contains the baby who will rescue the people of Israel down the Nile River. Although the text says that Moses’ sister “stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him,” I imagine that her role was somewhat more active. It seems that her job is to make sure that the right person finds the child. When Moses’ mother puts the child on the Nile, she must know that the Pharaoh’s palace lies just downriver, making her action more strategic and even more daring. After all, for this baby to survive not just anyone can find him.
And what’s amazing is that this strategy works! His little ark floats right into the hands of the Pharaoh’s daughter who rescues him even though she immediately recognizes him as a Hebrew child. Moses’ sister “just happens” to be nearby and knows exactly where to find a woman who can nurse the baby -- Moses’ own mother. To top it off, the Pharaoh’s daughter pays Moses’ mother to nurse the baby.
In this chain of resistance that is executed exclusively by women, both Israelite and Egyptian, the Pharaoh's plans are subverted and the Israelites survive.
The beginning of Exodus started on a chilling note. A ruler, wishing to solidify his political base, identified a common enemy, a scapegoat to blame for whatever current problems plague society. We've seen this in our lifetimes. In the 1930's, especially though not exclusively in Germany, it was the Jews. More recently it's been, the immigrants, the welfare moms, the gays, the "undeserving" poor, the Muslims, the police. One of the chief manifestations of sin is our penchant for defining ourselves over and against others and in the
process denying others their essential humanity, their status as beloved children of God.
Each person in the Exodus story had a particular part to play. What is the part God is inviting you to play in the greater story of humanity? Romans speaks of gifts; Exodus tells the way in which each person in the story used their gifts. Each of us has a part to play, but when we work together, when we all offer our
parts in God’s work, it makes the story whole. God does some pretty amazing things through Moses. There is always a bigger picture than the one we can know. Being faithful means discerning what our part is and responding with gratitude.
You've heard of the 'Butterfly effect'? The butterfly effect is the idea that small things can have non-linear impacts on a complex system. The concept is imagined in fiction with a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a typhoon. Of course, a single act like the butterfly flapping its wings cannot cause a typhoon. Small events can, however, serve as catalysts that act to start changing conditions.
Maybe a school teacher will give encouragement to a student who will see something in herself that she hadn't before and in turn befriend another student who was on the verge of giving up on life....
Or maybe a young person will stand up to the neighborhood bully this week and not only help the kids being bullied but also the bully, who never had anyone care enough to stand up to him before, and in turn he'll go on to be a police officer who protects the vulnerable....
Or maybe someone will be moved to volunteer to read to kids at the local library and one of those kids will discover a passion for language and will grow up to be the poet laureate....
Or maybe....
The things we do this week -- our actions, decision, choices -- will, in fact, ripple out with consequences foreseen and unforeseen, for good or for ill, for the health or damage of the world. It isn't whether, but what...what will we do this week to make a difference in the world. Some of these actions may be big,
bold, and courageous. Others may be small, hardly noticeable. And yet they all have the potential to ripple out, affecting countless lives. In today's reading it's Shiphrah and Puah, quietly standing up to a bully and tyrant. Who knows who it will be today, this week, this year.
Wallace Stegner was an American writer who was born in 1909. He spent 5 years as a child in Canada when his father was trying to make his fortune farming in southwestern Saskatchewan. I recently read his memoir about that time called Wolf Willow. This quote from that book made me think about the people of the bible story today (I've replaced the word 'men' with 'people')
“ ...history is a pontoon bridge. Every person walks and works at its building end, and has come as far as they have over the pontoons laid by others they may never have heard of. Events have a way of making other events inevitable; the actions of people are consecutive and indivisible.”
How will you change the future?