Pull Back the Veil
When Moses descended from Mount Sinai—with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain—he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone! They were afraid to come near him. . . . When Moses had finished speaking with (the Israelites), he put a veil over his face. But whenever Moses went before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. After he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, and the Israelites would see that Moses’s face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with the Lord. (Exodus 34: 29-35 CSB)
During times of catastrophe, social unrest, or natural disaster, people have found comfort in quoting Mr. Rogers: “Look for the helpers.” Recognizing the people who step up in times of crisis helps us find the ray of hope that might get us through the day. The past two years have brought more chaos than many of us have experienced in our whole lifetimes. In the midst of turmoil, watching these helpers take care of the sick, the injured, the marginalized, and our fragile earth has provided hope that all is not yet lost.
After two years, the helpers seem exhausted, yet they continue to show up.
Moses was one of these helpers. Called by God to lead his people, Moses willingly (and sometimes unwillingly) led the Israelites through forty years of uncertainty and what I imagine to be controlled chaos. In Exodus 34, we learn about the second set of stone tablets Moses brought down from the mountain. (Remember the first ones that were broken in anger over the golden calf? After the two years I’ve had I don’t blame Moses for throwing a tantrum over seeing the despicable behavior of his people.) What I find most interesting about this story is in verse 29. Moses communed with God until his face glowed. He was so radiant that the people were afraid of him and he covered his face with a veil. The time he spent with God was more beneficial than any high-dollar department store serum we could ever dream up in a cosmetics lab.
Earlier this year, a woman in my church was ordained as a minister to serve as a hospital chaplain. She had finished her seminary training, and the church held a ceremony during a Sunday morning service, making her a commissioned minister. In the midst of a pandemic, she never gave up her calling to become a minister so she could shepherd and pastor patients and staff at the hospital where she serves. She is the type of helper Mr. Rogers tells us to look for.
The church service closed with the hymn “Here I am, Lord.” From my seat in the choir, I could see the face of the newly commissioned minister as she sang the verses. Even with a veil over her face (in the form of a mask), I could see the radiance of God shining through. Her beauty as she sang the words I will go, Lord, I will hold your people in my heart was a moment of transcendence. I was in the presence of not only a helper but a servant of God who had obeyed her call. She shone like Moses after his mountaintop experience, and her earthly skin could not contain the glory of God’s pleasure in her. I was overcome by the beauty of her moment with God, and in the brief time it took to sing a hymn, I bore witness to the veil that separates us from the divine being pulled back.
These moments when the veil becomes thin may feel few and far between, but that doesn’t make them any less important. If anything, these are the moments we can cling to, to get us through the chaotic landscape we call life and the uncertainty it brings. It is these moments that remind us that God is sovereign and present in the world, no matter how scared we are. When our hearts are hardened or cynical, when we have pulled away from the love of God, it can be these moments that help us find our way back or remember to keep a soft heart.
I encourage you to look for places where the veil between you and the divine can be pulled back. Don’t just look for the helpers—be a helper. Consider what Christ meant when he said heaven here on earth and take steps towards reconciliation. We may not all be able to become ordained ministers or bring stone tablets down from a mountain, but we all can see our neighbor next door, across town, or across the world as a child of God and treat them as such.
is a writer and blogger but more importantly, a wife and mother to two little boys. In her free time (if there is any) she can be found wiping snotty noses and volunteering in her community and school. Learn more about Stephanie along with her passion to encourage women and lighten their load at www.hugskissesandsnot.com.
Photograph © Ismael Paramo, used with permission
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