Genesis 43: The Second Journey
Saturday, September 15, 2018
Bacchiacca: Joseph receives his brothers
Just when we think we have reached a plateau in our journey where we might walk along the flatland rather than clamber up and skitter down the mountain sides . . . we find that we have to go back to repeat a leg of our passage. Just when we have begun to relax at the oasis where we have filled our water sacks and rested in the shade from the heat of the day . . . we are told that we must move on. Just when we are beginning to become comfortable in the little fortress where we are hiding from our foes . . . we hear the voice that calls us to make a second journey.
Today we find ourselves in the Joseph story at the point where the brothers have returned home to Jacob to tell him that they must go back to Egypt . . . and this time they must take the favored son Benjamin with them. Just when Jacob thought his problem of famine had been resolved . . . he is told that he must relinquish the last person who brings him comfort. Despite his age and the litany of difficulties he has undergone, Jacob must trust God and allow himself to suffer again. The brothers who had sold Joseph into slavery know that they must make a return trip to Egypt. Little do they know that well-hidden secrets are about to be revealed, questions will be asked and answered, truths will be spoken. They plan to go to Egypt to purchase food for their families. They do not plan to encounter the brother they have delivered to slavery and death. They do not know they are about to make a further journey. We do not hear from Benjamin, the young boy whose full brother wields power second only to Pharaoh, but we can imagine that he feels both anxiety and excitement. Everyone in this story will suffer. Everyone in this story will be rewarded beyond their wildest imaginings.
I am reading a book by Richard Rohr which a friend gave to me. In FALLING UPWARD, Rohr posits that in life each of us is given the gift of a second or further journey. “[I]n my opinion, this first-half of life task is no more than finding the starting gate. It is merely the warm-up act, not the full journey. It is the raft but not the shore . . . There is much evidence on several levels that there are at least two major tasks to human life. The first task is to build a strong ‘container’ or identity; the second is to find the contents that the container was meant to hold. The first task we take for granted as the very purpose of life, which does not mean that we do it well. The second task, I am told, is more encountered than sought; few arrive at it with much preplanning, purpose, or passion”. (Rohr viii and xiii)
Rohr cites W. H. Auden: We would rather be ruined than changed. We would rather die in our dread than climb the cross of the present and let our illusions die. (Rohr 65) And on page 73 we find this from Matthew 16:25-26: Anyone who wants to save his life must lose it. Anyone who loses her life will find it. What gain is there if you win the whole world and lose your very self? What can you offer in exchange for your one life?”
Jacob believed that his sons were going to Egypt to purchase food that would save the family. He did not know that his lost son Joseph would be their savior. Joseph’s brothers thought they were purchasing food to save their lives . . . they did not know that they would also redeem their souls.
Just when we believe that we have convinced everyone of the reality of our illusions . . . we are given the opportunity to leave our comfort zone and enter the second half of our lives. We are blessed with the gift of seeing clearly that we are created to love honestly and suffer well. We are created to take the second journey of our lives . . . the journey that promises far more than suffering . . . the further journey that brings us more reward than we can ever imagine.
Rohr, Richard. FALLING UPWARD: A SPIRITUALITY FOR THE TWO HALVES OF LIFE. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011. Print.
The painting above is housed at the UK National Gallery. To see more detail, click on the image and follow the link. A spy glass on the museum site will allow you to see detail by zeroing in. You will also find a link to other scenes from the life of Joseph which may interest you.
A re-post from August 16, 2011.
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When we feel ourselves or others slipping into old, comfortable but dangerous patterns, we might want to quickly utter this petition of . . . My strength, make haste to help me! And we may want to echo Nehemiah as he says: Remember this in my favor, O my God!
The Noontimes 