Episode 037 - One Story, Many Versions

Ever since the old caveman days, when we sat around fires shooting the evening breeze, human beings have always loved stories. They do something specific for us. Besides giving us a great chance to be entertained while we hang out together, they give us the opportunity to learn and grow in a most efficient way. We can get the lesson of the story without having to go through the experience that's at the core of it. We don't have to be the one who actually gets hit by a car, or hit by a heartbreak. We can extract the understanding that comes from the circumstance without actually having to experience the pain of it. It's a pretty good deal.

          There's a joke about it from the world of computers. The most advanced processor possible has been constructed to mirror human thought and find out how our intelligence really works. Finally, when this vast computer is ready, the attendant feeds it the first entry, "What is it like to think like a real human being?"

          After running through some hyper-advanced calculations, it finally responds, "Well, let me tell you a story."

          So not only have we been telling each other stories since antiquity, it seems likely to be going on long far into the future.

          Now, there have been thousands of different collections of stories throughout the centuries. All of the scriptures in the world are basically just collections of stories, but they are all based around the idea that the ordinary human being can have a profound relationship with the Higher Power, the Creator, God, or whatever other finite term you want to put onto what, by definition, has to be infinite.

          When you grow up in a particular religion, you don't really get to pick and choose what you're going to read and study. You just follow the prescribed path. Having been given a rather intensive Orthodox Jewish education throughout my childhood, as you can imagine, I've heard, read or memorized about a million of these religious stories. Or so it seems.

          But there happens to be one fascinating element about the religious training that I was given. We were taught that while there is one central, official writing of the story, which is the Old Testament, there are also many books of commentaries about them. The commentaries talk extensively about what the stories mean, and they often will tell slightly different versions of what happened.

          When it comes to famous bible stories I, like most people of Judeo-Christian heritage, have always been well-aware of the story of the parting of the Red Sea. It occupies a strong place in our memory, not just because it's central to the Bible, but the Technicolor 1956 Cecille B. DeMille movie packed quite a punch, especially for people of a certain age.

          Even though it was a major cinematic experience, I'm sure that if there really was a Moses, he probably had very little in common with Charlton Heston. Maybe Ramses was a little more like Yul Brynner, but that's anybody's guess. Anyway, I saw that move as a seven-year-old and those guys are still starring in their roles in the theatre of my mind.

          So, oddly, after knowing the story so well over all these years, I recently heard of a few different versions of the parting of the Red Sea that I had never heard before. And they made quite an impression on me.

          In the version we all know; the Jewish people had been held captive, in a miserable life of slavery in Egypt for over four hundred years. Then Moses comes along, and after a lot of give and take between him, God and Pharaoh, Pharaoh finally decides to let the slaves go. There are a lot of different opinions about how many slaves there were at the time. By some accounts there were about 50,000 of them, others say 200,000 and others go ten times that amount. Who knows? It was a long time ago.  

          Anyway, Moses led them out of Egypt and they traveled about 40 miles  until they came to a dead end at the Red Sea. Meanwhile, Pharaoh had come to severely regret his decision to let his slaves go and had assembled his entire army to go and forceable take them back. He'd probably kill a bunch of them in the process as well. It was going to be a pretty brutal scene.

          As the story goes, the Jews have nowhere to go and the Egyptian army is at their back, getting ready to attack. At one point, Moses holds his staff over the waters, the Red Sea parts, and the former slaves are given a magical path to freedom.

          That's the standard version we all know, but here are three different versions that I heard about two years ago. They all involve a character named Nahshon. Now I can't begin to tell you how extensive my religious training was when I was a kid, literally about eight hours a week. But until recently, I'd never heard of this guy. Maybe I wasn't really paying close attention, which was a distinct possibility, as I remember spending an inordinate amount of time daydreaming.

          Anyway, it turns out that Nahshon was a major player in those days. His sister was married to Aaron, Moses' brother and the Jewish High Priest, so he was a member of Moses" extended family and part of his inner circle.  And he was also a Chief of one of the ten tribes, and a significant military figure as well.

          In the first alternative version of the story, Moses stands before the Red Sea, holds up his staff and commands the waters to part. But nothing happens. They don't part. Finally, Nahshon, a man of great faith, steps into the water and as soon as he does, the waters part.

          The second alternative version of the story is slightly different. It's the same scenario as the first, Moses commands the waters to part, they don't part and Nahshon steps into the water.  But in this version, nothing happens. The sea doesn't part. So Nahshon keeps walking into deeper and deeper water. He keeps going until the water is over his lips and when it's almost touching his nostrils, at that point, the water finally parts. 

          The last alternative version of the story is quite a bit different. In this one, when they are trapped against the Red Sea, the Children of Israel are on a hill overlooking it. Moses holds his staff over the water and commands it to part, but nothing happens. At that point, Nahshon jumps into the water, which is quite rough. After a little while of struggling, it seems like he's beginning to drown.

          Moses then prays to God for help. God answers him saying, "You are trapped against the Red Sea with your entire nation behind you. You have no place to go and the mightiest army in the world is about to brutally take everyone back into slavery. The champion of your people has jumped into the water and is drowning. And you're praying?

          "What should I do?" Moses asks.

          "Hold your staff out over the water and command it to part," is the Divine reply.

          Moses does it and the water parts.

          So, those are the three alternative versions of the stories, and in the tradition, there are always lots of different opinions and commentaries that go along with them.

           In the first version, although Moses commands the water to part, it doesn't happen until Nahshon steps into it. The commentary here is that no matter what your inspiration may be, nothing manifests on the earth plane until you take action. Thoughts and prayers don't take shape until you act.

          This is a well-known concept in every school of thought. According to the famous Japanese proverb, "Planning without action is a daydream. Action without planning is a nightmare."

          In the second version, Moses commands the water to part and Nahshon walks into it. But it doesn't part until he has walked in up to his nostrils. The commentary here is that it isn't enough just to make an action, there must be commitment to see it all the way through, no matter what happens.

          It certainly seems apropos to life, because sooner or later, one way or another, we all find ourselves in water up to our nostrils. For some of us, it's become almost a way of life. Yet it does do something to us. To quote Don Juan, the Shaman in the book, "Tales of Power," "It always amazes me what a man can do once he realizes his back is against the wall."

          In the last alternative version of the story, the commentary has a few different levels to it. According to it, in the beginning, when Moses commanded the water to part and they didn't, he had just been acting on his own. He hadn't connected with God first. It was only after the water didn't part and Nahshon jumped in and started to drown, that Moses reached out and prayed to God. When he prayed, he received his answer, he acted on it, and then, the water finally parted.

          Critically, he made the exact same action that he did at first, when he held out his staff and commanded the waters to part. The difference was that then, he was using only his own understanding and power. But after he had connected, he was one with the greater power. According to the commentary, your own individual power can never compare to connecting with the force that powers the entire universe. Same exact action. Completely different result.

           Additionally, it says that when you pray, it's critical to remember that it's a two-way street. You ask and then you pay attention for the response. Many contemplative traditions say that for the most part, we only operate on a one-way connection to that power. We're always asking, asking, asking for what we want, but we're not always open to the response.  Maybe our intuition's out of whack or something. Whatever.

          Now the tradition tells you that these alternative stories with their commentaries are not meant to be teachings, they are just meant to be prompts to help stimulate your inner growth. You let the information come into you and watch what happens to your awareness.

          Personally, I find that if you take them deep enough, they can seriously transform your consciousness. I also find that one basic understanding usually gets reinforced within me. When it comes to inner growth – I have a really long way to go.

          But I guess we all do. In my training, I was taught that when all was said and done, Moses never made it to the promised land. And the reason he never made it was that he had some pretty serious anger issues. Sound familiar? Problems with your own anger and frustration stopping you from reaching your goal? It sure does to me…

          Well anyway, that's the end of this episode. As always, keep your eyes, mind and hart opened, and let's get together in the next one.