And this day shall become a memorial for you, and you shall observe it as a festival for the L-RD, for your generations, as an eternal decree shall you observe it. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove the leaven from your homes … you shall guard the unleavened bread, because on this very day I will take you out of the land of Egypt; you shall observe this day for your generations as an eternal decree. – Exodus 12:14-17

In the weeks approaching the Passover season I’ve been reading (all that I had time to read) Old Testament history and learning about this Jewish holiday. Some of  the articles were written by Jewish Rabbis and some by Christian Pastors.  Regardless of the writer, at least one part of the message was the same; prioritize the time to remember,  celebrate, and tell the stories of what God has done.

People of the Jewish faith will gather with friends and family from March 29th-April 6th for Passover; a celebration called Pesach, by the Jews.   For the first two nights they will remember, through the Pesach seder,the time when God caused their ancestors to be freed from their slavery to Egypt.  

The holiday has a specific intent thus, its name.  The word, seder, is derived from a Hebrew rootword meaning order; the seder dinner celebrates a specific set of information that must be discussed in a specific order.

This information, contained in the Old Testament book of  Exodus (Chapter 1-15) will be retold told through the symbolism of the seder table and the seder menu and through the words spoken and the songs sung.  The joy of the people will be restored and their hope renewed, as together, they recall evidence of a faithful God– their God.  Their El Shaddia; God Almighty who nourishes, supplies, satisfies and delivers his people from bondage. 

Somewhere in my reading, I came upon this pearl of wisdom from the Talmud; and thats when my little study of Passover started to get personal.  Here’s what the  Rabbis who studied Jewish law had to say:  “In every generation one must look upon himself as if he personally had gone out of Egypt.”  The article went on to explain  that the Hebrew word for Egypt  is the same word used for boundaries or things that hold you back.  Right about this point I began to feel a pressure, with which I am quite familiar, almost as if there were an elbow nudging me right in my soul.  The nudge usually happens right before the dots begin to connect.  This time was no exception.

The connecting began this way… 

So, yah…how do you prioritize your time?… hmmmm? … With your list of to-do’s, first?…  Your phone and your email inbox? … Your health concerns?…Your concerns about health care… and, um…the systems of government? 

 And then…

You can recall, can’t you?…Who made a request of your time…what they requested? … But can you recall the last time…you prioritized…the time…to…you know…to remember… meditate… to share the stories…about the times when God…was there…for you?…Hmmm? 

Furthermore… do you think…if…you did…remind yourself…daily…you know…like…in a way that was…like…order-ly?…Remembering…meditating…sharing the stories…of the things that God has done…   not…you know… like…as an after thought…but… more like…a priority…and like… um…it’s how you live? …  Do you think maybe the things that you’re worrying about might not seem SO big???  And maybe…if you also made it a priority… to intentionally…express some gratitude…it might lower your stress level… a little?   Hmmmm?

Maybe the Jews aren’t the only ones who need to be remembering and celebrating the time when they were set free?  Because girl, you’ve got some Egypts of your own but you’re a slave by choice!   I’m just sayin’ …

I’m feeling it.  When I stop telling my own stories, when I don’t intentionally allow myself, the precious gift of time, to remember all the moments when God has shown up inthe middle of my chaotic life, when I don’t remember my personal evidence of God, my God– I become a slave by choice.  I become a slave to expectations, mine and yours, I wrap myself up so tight in worry that I can’t breathe and soon I’ll be chasing the approval of  somebody, but I won’t have any idea who.

No thanks, I’ve been there already. If I choose to go again it will be like the first zillion, painful lessons were for nothing.

So no.  

Instead, I’m taking this week to practice what I learned from Pesach seder. 

I’m remembering.  I’m singing.  I’m taking the time.  

Because I’m grateful for the things He hath done. 

 

And if your son asks you in the future, saying, What are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, that the L-RD our G-d commanded you? You will say to your son, We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt; and the L-RD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. The L-RD gave signs and wonders, great and harmful, against Egypt, against Pharaoh, and against all his household, before our eyes: And he brought us out of there to bring us in, to give us the land that he promised our fathers. -Deuteronomy 6:20-23