Deuteronomy Chapter 34:1-8

And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. And the LORD said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there." So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-pe’or; but no man knows the place of his burial to this day. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.


“his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated”

I confessed one Saturday morning to my Cursillo group reunion that I was disturbed by a recent tendency that I had to become angry or upset, even discouraged, when confronted with the news of the day or certain people's behavior. I was upset that I was assuming an attitude of anger at the world as opposed to maintaining a sense of awe of the world.

My world was in a turmoil. An economic turmoil because markets had crashed, retirement fund values had shrunk, the cost of living was on its way up. Bombarded every day by stock market quotes every 10 minutes, the number of jobs lost last month, and a shrinking GDP, it was difficult to maintain a lighthearted attitude.

My world is in a political turmoil. I was constantly informed of the new proposed health-care reform, being told the horror stories about “death panels”, about losing the ability to choose my own doctor, of not being able to obtain the latest, cutting edge treatments. I heard stories about people requiring medical treatments they couldn't afford and had no insurance coverage to pay for them.

My world is in an emotional turmoil. Every day I wake up and a different body part is malfunctioning. I'd like to reduce the amount of time that I work at my job, but, we're in an economic recession and my employer is making increasing demands on my time in an effort to reduce costs and keep the company afloat.

So with all these concerns swirling around in my head I found myself sitting on August 12 at a Wednesday morning Mass listening to those words from Deuteronomy. "His eye was not dim nor his natural forces abated." At age 120. What was his secret? How was his world brightened? How did he maintain an enthusiastic and awe filled spirit?

After all, he did his people the favor of freeing them from slavery, he led them to a new land, it took him 40 years. All the while his people grumbled and complained about how hard life was. They did nothing but worry about where their next meal was coming from. They gave up on God and created their own idols to worship. Only once did he exhibit a lack of faith and for this he was forbidden to enter the promised land. How much more could have been heaped upon Moses? Yet when he died his eye was not dim and his vigor unabated.

Of course, we all know that it was easier for Moses. He had direct access to God, saw him face to face. We don't have that resource to keep our spirit alive and invigorated. But we do have hope. We can keep our eye, not on our political, economic, emotional turmoil's, but on the Lord. Our faith tells us that we can rely on him to provide the light to keep the eye of our heart bright. We can rely on his Spirit to enlighten us and provide our bodies with the energy needed to maintain our vigor.

So with these goals in mind, to take the focus off our turmoil, to keep our eye on the Lord, we begin another year of exploring our Christian spirituality. Our meetings may be a distraction from the very important tasks that we need to carry out on a Saturday morning, but, it is a way to look toward the light.