Ramble for Kirwan Uniting Church Keeping in Touch pew sheet 11 December 2022
Moses was a hard act to follow. Joshua didn’t make a bad job of succeeding him, though, did he. I have a soft spot for Joshua, “the son of Nun.” Let me tell you why. I’m adopted, I know my birth mother’s name, but nothing else about her. The London Borough of Lewisham social worker who divulged her name in the late 1980s suggested that it would be fruitless to try to find out who was my natural father, because birth certificates in the days when I was born would typically say “Father unknown” in adoption cases. So I have long suspected that I am the rightful Duke of Westminster. Anyway, back to Joshua, who, like me, was the “Son of Nun/None.”
He came to mind this morning when Ready Movers dropped off packing boxes for our move on the 19th. We were at a gathering during the week where someone asked how many house moves folk there had had. Leisa and I won, hands down. Moving house is said to be among the most stressful events in people’s lives. Often, memories of a home built together, of a family raised together, of a lifetime of shared joy and grief, are invested in the property from which a person is moving. Leisa and I have been such nomads that we’re inured to many of those attachments. But it’s still a step into the unknown, a step fraught not least with mortgage interest rate rises!
What did God say to Joshua (1:9) at his inauguration as Moses’ successor? What does he say to us, moving house, or to anyone for that matter facing a new and uncertain future?
“Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
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