I Am Who I AM

Copyright 2010  Lauri Lumby Schmidt

Moses said to God, "But when I go to the Israelites
and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,'
if they ask me, 'What is his name?' what am I to tell them?"
God replied, "I am who am."
Then he added, "This is what you shall tell the Israelites:
I AM sent me to you."

God spoke further to Moses, "Thus shall you say to the Israelites:
The LORD, the God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,
has sent me to you.

"This is my name forever;
thus am I to be remembered through all generations."

Exodus Chapter 3

In the Hebrew tradition, it was inappropriate to even attempt to utter the name of God.  Within this tradition was the realization of the infinite and therefore indefinable nature of the Divine.  This is echoed in the story of Moses' encounter with God when he asks God by what name he should tell the Israelites that he has been sent.  God's elusive response: "I am who I am."

We might do well to take this as a reminder of the undefinable nature of the Divine.  As hard as we work toward deciding what God is and what God is not (Father, Mother, wrathful, compassionate, jealous, forgiving, Above, Below, Within, Among,), we simply cannot begin to comprehend the vast nature of the Divine.  God simply is.  Meditating upon this truth allows us to set aside our own preconceived ideas, religious upbringing or social conditioning to allow the Divine to reveal itself.  Freed from our own limited perceptions, God can reveal God's self more and more fully thus opening us up for deeper and more profound experiences of the Divine.  When entered into with the spirit of openness there is no end to what God may reveal. 

The invitation this week is to suspend all that we think we know about God and allow ourselves to simply be open.  We just might be surprised at what is revealed.