A Story of Personal Growth
Taking the bold step that leads to your future
Not long ago, I completed a novella of short stories called The Ascension Trilogy. In the third book, a depressed, disillusioned young priest meets the effervescent whirlwind of energy that is Sitha. She invites him into her home and shows him a painting. It depicts an ailing Moses sitting beside his wife. He has led his people for forty years through the desert Sinai wilderness on a promise from God that he will deliver his people to the promised land. The time has arrived. But God tells Moses he has already reached his destiny. He can watch his children enter the promised land from afar. He is never to experience the fruit of his life’s work.
What can Moses be thinking as he sees his children enter the land he has spent his whole life dreaming of? The children he led are transitioning. They can no longer rely on Moses for guidance. They no longer need him as they stand on the cusp of their own destiny.
The front of the line has just crossed the threshold, illuminated by the milky, honeyed rays of their future.
Sitha’s painting invites three questions.
Question 1
Moses sits beside his wife. They both turn away from their children’s destiny to face the observer. Who is calling their attention? Is this God telling Moses his fate? Is it a reference to the intrusion of the biblical story on one of the most gut-wrenching times in Moses’ life? Is this us distracted by sensationalising and polarised social media, using trivialising and incendiary commentary to divert attention from the real action? Moses is losing his power. He is losing his life. And yet he is focused on something or someone unseen demanding his attention. And what of his wife? She has spent almost the whole of her adult life helping Moses lead and nurture his people. It is her people too. Yet she is relegated to a bit player. Her efforts, her dreams, and her support are discounted to the point of irrelevance. What must she be thinking as her husband sits at the head of their grandstand still with his back to her? Many years before, Moses begs to see God. He positions Moses inside a fissure of a cracked rock facing inwards. God passes before Moses. Only when he has passed can Moses turn around to see the back of God. God tells Moses that no one can see his face and live. The allegory implies you can only know the glory of God after he has served his people when you can see and evaluate what has been done. In the painting, Moses’ wife is left watching Moses from behind as his life ebbs away. Is that her destiny, to serve her husband and to fade in his shadow, or to watch her children, her life’s work, as they transition to taking control of their own destiny?
Question 2
What about the children of Israel, the people who have been led by Moses throughout their entire lives? They look forward. They move forward. Their ideals and cultures have been moulded by Moses and his wife. Yet here they are, moving into the future looking only forward. How do we know when the time is right for us to take control of our own lives, to leave the nest, and to take responsibility for our own actions? In today’s world, people are having to live longer and longer with their parents. Can we live with our parents and still take responsibility for our own lives or do we need to leave them behind in order to reach our full potential?
Question 3
And what does the painting say about our social, business and political leaders? Leaders should serve the people they lead. A poor leader makes it impossible to leave them behind. They serve their interests over ours by creating a social or economic dependency that binds us to their will. Were the people ungracious in leaving Moses behind or were they the product of a leader who helped them to develop their autonomy?
If we want to lead our own lives, as our authentic selves, empowered to pursue our own destiny, there will come a time for us to let go of the reins that tie us in. We need to let go of the undue influence of our parents, our teachers, our leaders, or anyone that seeks to hold us back.
It takes a brave person to walk into the unknown. But that is where our future lies, bathing in the milky, golden rays of our destiny.
Further Reading
If you enjoyed this article, you may enjoy my www.animating.vision website which brings to life a vision of the people we live with and the world we live in. And to see more of my morally-explicit Photo Ar, check out the Photo Art gallery on ww.animating.vision/art.
And if you are an artist seeking to influence the world, you may want to explore whether to incorporate the emerging genre of Morally-Explicit Art as part of your artistic expression.
