The Life of Moses

Categories: reading, parish-life, spiritual-writings

Date: 05 August 2007 05:48:53

Though first, after Divine Liturgy today [which is when I turned up -- {insert embarrassed / 'naughty Christian' smilie here} : I was just in a very off mood today: not that that is an excuse], our Choir Director had a meeting of those in the choir and those, like me, who would like to join. We were discussing the way forward and, God willing, it looks like interesting and exciting times. He also sang some new hymns which made me eat my previous post on my difficulties with Byzantine chant: these chants, fully Byzantine, and in a different tone to what we currently use, were simply beautiful: deep, yet joyful; not as drawn-out as the hymns we currently have, yet not at a frantic pace either. Looking forward to hearing more.

I mentioned St Gregory of Nyssa's The Life of Moses yesterday: I am going through it slowly, but am greatly enjoying, and benefiting from, it. St Gregory begins with a review of the life of Moses, and then begins the contemplation of the life of Moses, where St Gregory draws out, not the historical meaning alone of Moses' life, as you might expect, but the spiritual sense. As written on the back of the book, St Gregory "saw the totality of the spiritual life as an "epektasis", a continual growth or straining ahead, as in the words of St Paul, 'Forgetting the past, I strain for what is still to come.'"

Some examples of the spiritual sense:

the plagues of Egypt: St Gregory relates the Hebrews not being affected to those righteous who live in cities among the unrighteous now: "the stream of faith from which they draw by means of the divine teaching is fresh and clear, but to others, who live as the Egyptians do and drawn by means of their own evil presuppositions, the water becomes corrupted blood." [#66]
the departure from Egypt: an emphasis on the transient nature of our earthly life: as a further example St Gregory delves deeper into each command the Israelites were given: for example, the binding of the clothes at the waist is seen as prudence, reining in the long-flowing tunic which is the pursuit of the pleasures of this life -- its flowing down to the feet a symbol of possible hindrance
the crossing of the Red Sea: related to Baptism, with righteousness passing through [the Israelites] and the necessity of evil thoughts and deeds being put to death in the waters [the Egyptian army], and the continual putting to death of such things after Baptism

Every aspect of Moses' life is thus treated: it is truly a new way, to me, of looking at many things, and there is great encouragement -- and chastisement [though through it encouragement also] -- to follow in the righteous ways of Moses.