God's Humor

When my girls were young our favorite movie was Watership Down which begins with the tale of El-ahrairah (the prince of all rabbits). El-ahrairah was clever and tried to trick god but got caught and ran to hide. But god sought him out and asked him to come out so that he might bless El-ahrairah. The rabbit prince, whose head was half-way down a hole said, "if you want to bless me, then bless my bottom." Which is why the rabbit to this day has a beautiful white tail and strong back legs.

Rewind the tape some 3000 years, to the time of Moses. Moses it seems wanted to see God - after all he had been employed by this Deity for some time now - it only seemed fair. But YHWH was not to be had like any simple relationship and told Moses that he would pass by but would shield him from seeing his Divine "killer" face. However god was not totally unreasonable, and allowed that Moses could see his back side. (Though the Oxford translation simply says "his back") I actually think this is emblematic of the humor the Divine one operates with - I mean, really, god was greatly responsible for creating me and that has been a hoot! So Moses, the ultimate leader (who by the way is a stutterer, and, less we forget, a convicted killer), is permitted to see the Promised Land but not actually to get there, and in the scene in Exodus 33:23, is permitted to see god but gets mooned in the process! Moses never says what he saw, but I wonder if God was wearing a big fluffy white tail or what.

My God just cracks me up!