I was in the Niccoli Chapel of the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy, for one of our daily Masses on our Italian Pilgrimage. This chapel is stunningly adorned with stone and marble statues, paintings, and an incredible dome with a stained glass peak. I could have explored the artwork for hours, but I was there on a mission. I had a specific prayer request to offer up to God on the altar.
I came to pray for a friend and her estranged children. Their pain and brokenness was first and foremost on my heart, as we took our seats. I prepared my heart and mind for the sacrifice of the Mass, and my eyes kept being drawn to an ominous, angry statue. His face looked furious and hateful, and he appeared to have horns on his head. I was super distracted by this statue, and kept wondering why such a hateful statue would loom so large in this place of beauty and love. As I looked closer at the entire room, I saw the darkness and anger in the faces of several of the angels and saints painted and sculpted over the last 5 centuries. What was going on here?
I focused intently on the Eucharist, still aware that this huge, hateful guy was lurking, waiting for me to return to my seat. I prayed for my people. I offered my prayer, and still, he stared down with that stony, disapproving, furious face.
Mass ended, and I quickly walked to the altar to ask the Italian assistant who this statue represents. My Italian is as limited as his English, but I understood the most important word.
“Moses.”
I checked out the statue again, this time from the front, and not from the side view that I saw during Mass. It was indeed Moses, holding the tablet of ten commandments on his lap. His face was pointed in the direction where I had been sitting, and from this new angle, I could see that his wavy hair was quite curly, forming ringlets in places (like on each side of his head.)
Moses.
One word came pounding into my head. “Perspective.”
From this perspective, Moses is God’s favored one, receiving the Ten Commandments to lead God’s Chosen People to the Promised Land. He is the Free-er of Slaves. The baby that was saved from the slaughter of male Hebrew children, and made an Egyptian prince. All of that is true. He stood between God and His people as a messenger. He’s a good guy, right? From this perspective, yes, but from my other seat, I saw the shadows of Moses.
I saw the angry Moses who broke the tablets of the Commandments. I saw the guy who looked both ways to make sure no one was watching, then murdered an Egyptian man in cold blood. I saw the bringer of rules, who COMMANDED new behaviors! This is the guy who led these people (who, by their account, were perfectly happy eating meat as slaves of the Egyptians) out into the desert to eat manna and quail, day after day after day. The bad guy, right?
Perspective.
In our broken relationships, as with Moses, “good guy” and “bad guy” aren’t so simple. There are things people did that crushed other people. There are hurtful words and actions, and cuts so deep they may never heal. Those Israelites never saw the Promised Land, because of THEIR hurtful choices, and my friend’s relationships might not reach it either, but my prayer for them is perspective.
I beg them to step out of their seat where all around them looks bleak and dark and angry and hateful, and see that there may be a different way to see things. I hope that the ones doing the hurting recognize it. Moses couldn’t raise the dead Egyptian, but he did get called out on his actions. Then he moved forward and let God make something necessary and beautiful of his life. (Which has blessed all of Judaism and Christianity.)
Use the gift of perspective.
Look at things another way. Seek the good, because when you focus on the bad, it taints your vision of all the beautiful sculptures, frescoes, and stained glass windows around you.
Moses. Perspective.
Don’t miss out.
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