Tonight at sundown marks the first night of Passover, which commemorates the Lord freeing the people of Israel from the bondage of slavery. The celebration of Passover has layers of meaning. It always makes me reflect upon the things that may have me in proverbial bondage. We become slaves to various things in our lives. We are slaves to stress. We are slaves to time. We are slaves to things in general. We work and toil to collect things and, in the end, those things become meaningless. You know the old saying, "you can't take it with you when you die."
Now is a particularly poignant time for the arrival of Passover, as we all seem to be in bondage to COVID 19. This is one situation in which we all find ourselves and beyond taking the necessary precautions, like staying home when possible, social distancing, washing your hands, etc., we really do not have a whole lot of control over this pandemic. The uncertainty of that and the vulnerability we feel as a result is extremely anxiety-provoking. I am seeing so much anxiety, from my clients, my coworkers, my friends, and my family. I will say this, if it wasn't for my faith, I would probably be scared out of my mind! So allow me to help you reframe the situation so it doesn't seem so grim.
You may be asking what this has to do with Passover; please indulge me. The coinciding with Passover and the COVID 19 pandemic is amazing to me. In the first place, I believe the Lord wants us to use Passover as a time to reflect upon the "hametz" (leaven) in our lives. We are to eat only unleavened bread to remember our ancestors who didn't have time to bake leavened bread because they had to leave Egypt in a hurry, but the Lord had a deeper meaning for hametz. Hametz became a representation of sin. The people of Israel had a very difficult time clearing out their sin, which is why they ended up wandering in the desert for 40 years. Even though they saw the Lord perform tremendous miracles on their behalf, they kept returning to their stiff-necked ways. As it says in Proverbs 26:11: "Just as a dog returns to his vomit, a fool repeats his folly." I don't think much has changed in humanity since then. So, not only are we to clear out the physical hametz in our house, we need to clear out the emotional and spiritual hametz as well.
What better time to reflect than being stuck at home because of a pandemic to reflect upon the things which have you in bondage? Please don't get me wrong; I am not making light of this pandemic. I am simply trying to turn the situation for the betterment of my life and those of whom I love. I believe that is always what God wants for us. I saw a meme recently that said, and I paraphrase: "Ok, I took away the stress of your job. You can't go to the movies, restaurants, bars, parties. You are basically stuck at home. Now, can we talk?-God" I can't help but think there is truth in this.
Rather than focusing your emotional energy on the things over which you have no control, I challenge you to focus inward during this time. Whether you celebrate Passover or not, take this time to look at your life and the things that have you in bondage. What are the things in your life that have taken you away from time with your Creator or a higher power? What has distracted you from spending time with your loved ones? What has you stuck in your head lamenting about the past?
Instead of feeling guilty or beating yourself up, just resolve to make a change. Talk to God, or meditate. Forgive yourself and others. Free yourself from your hametz, whether that is anger, shame, stress, greed, or any other trivial pursuit that has taken you away from the things that are most important in this life. Use this time to free your self from the bondage of your own making and become a better version of yourself. Become the person God wants you to be, or at least start that journey. This pandemic will eventually pass. God is in control. Let yourself be delivered and stop wandering in the desert. The promised land is waiting! God bless!
