Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Waiting on the Exodus

Waiting on the Exodus

Last updated on: May 25, 2018 at 8:28 pm by Mary Pezzulo

Waiting on the Exodus 2018-05-25T20:28:28-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We’ve been waiting around for over a year.

A year ago I thought we were moving– quickly, within a few months, sometime in the fall, surely before Christmas. Somewhere in West Virginia, hopefully near our church. We’d have a car, too, and everything would get easier. And the miracle we’d expected fell through. This year, it stands a better chance of happening– someday, within several months, maybe in the fall, maybe by Christmas, probably not to West Virginia, maybe somewhere in Pennsylvania. Surely with a car, and everything will be easier. No more buses with senile Betsy or terrible Old Scratch. This time for sure. This time Aunt So-and-so can’t stop stalling as the will’s executor. This time mother-in-law will be able to move out to… somewhere around here, and we’ll move with her.

Last year I planted a small garden I wouldn’t miss much if we had to leave earlier than expected. This year I’m not planting one at all. This way we can focus on other projects, and be ready to leave at a minutes’ notice.

Rose and I are reading the book of Exodus in her homeschooling. It seems so pretentious to compare too much of my life with the Exodus of the ancient Hebrews, but I still think of it that way– living our lives standing up, cloaks tucked in, sandals on, no time for anything but unleavened bread– we could burn the leftovers and escape this place at any moment.

Of course, we’ve been living that way for a year, and it’s tiresome.

We’re getting by, same as we always have– my job here at Patheos with the tip jar, EBT from the dreaded Job and Family Services, generous help from family and friends, luck, payment agreements, chicken leg quarters, walking to the store when the bus doesn’t run. There are far worse fates– I’ve lived in infinitely worse circumstances myself, just awhile ago, and I know many people who are worse off than I’ve ever been. I’m grateful and surprised to have gotten this far.

When we came to this house, we didn’t have a stick of furniture except for the TV cart with no TV to put on it. We ran around rescuing discarded furniture ahead of Bulk Trash Pickup. Now we’ve got a house full of old mismatched things most of which work fine. We’ll take most with us leave some out for Bulk Trash Pickup, or for other poor people to rescue, when we move.

When we came here, we couldn’t afford air conditioning and were still learning to manage my fatigue and fibromyalgia. I spent that first summer lying on the couch in agony, completely disabled. Now I’ve got my purple cane, my air conditioner, my diet with all the protein, my weird combinations of esoteric vitamins, and each help a little.

When we came here, I was terrified all the time. The anxiety has scaled back along with everything else. We’ve had so many close calls and then mysteriously made it through, it’s hard to panic at anything anymore.

When Michael came in yesterday and told me that our income in tips on the blog had dropped by about a third the past two months for some reason, and next month we’d have to choose between buying my vitamins and keeping the electricity from shutoff– I wasn’t scared. Not very much, at least. A little.

When I was reading Exodus with Rose, I noticed that it doesn’t seem to say how long it was between Moses returning to Egypt and Pharaoh letting the Israelites go. But I once heard a Jewish woman say that it was one year. One year of signs and wonders of the most terrible kind, before the Israelites were freed. One year between Moses returning as liberator and Moses actually leading the people to liberty. One year of the Egyptians’ cruelty and injustice coming back to bite them again and again, the very forces of nature turning against them in vengeance at the Lord’s command, before they gave up. One year and then the Israelites could take their families, their flocks and herds, and make their way toward Sinai. Then Pharaoh changed his mind again and pursued them– but now the exodus was really happening and Pharaoh’s time was up. The waters of the sea closed over the Egyptian chariots, and it was over. Israel went off to new adventures. Egypt ceased to be part of the narrative for a thousand years, except as a memory. Because we were slaves, and we are slaves no longer.

It seems so grand to compare myself to anyone in the Bible. But I know that what’s written there was written for my benefit, so perhaps it’s not. Perhaps it’s just what we should do. We are each of us a microcosm of Salvation History– one soul infinitely loved by God, trapped in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, looking ahead to that impossibility: that God should come to meet us where we are, to bring justice, to save us and bring us to where He is. All creation sings of the mystery: nature, the times and seasons, individual human lives, the histories of nations. So everything is an Exodous. Even a family waiting to leave the Ohio Valley.

In any case, I’ve been expecting my circumstances to improve at any minute for a little over a year.

Waiting for the waters to part and let us through.
Waiting for them to close again– to move on to new adventures.

Waiting on the exodus.

(image via Pixabay)

Christianity and Judaism

Interpretation of Scripture

Previous Post

May 24, 2018

A Bucket Will Not Save You

Next Post

May 29, 2018 By My Magnanimous Leave: How to ask Someone on a Date

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who prayed for rain after a long drought and sent his servant to look seven times?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Hosea Samuel Elijah Isaiah