Clouds and Clearing

Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud had settled upon it

and the Presence of יהוה  filled the Mishkan/Tabernacle. 

When the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle,

the Israelites would set out, on their

various journeys; but if the cloud did not lift,

they would not set out until such time as it did lift.   

Exodus 40: 34-37

 

Which are the clouds 

of Holiness and which

the fog of our own

making -

 

When do we lose sight 

of our sanctuary, our refuge

because the Presence is

veiled or when is it that

we are the obstacle

keeping us stuck in place

as if we stand at the shores 

of the Reed Sea

refusing to enter?

 

Moshe and the Mishkan

dwell among us 

radiant and veiled, 

shutting us out, calling us to

receive.  If we see

the cloud are we any closer?

When the cloud dissipates

what do we see? How can we 

truly know when it is our time 

to move from this place,

our eyes so easily

occluded by sand and sorrow, our

vision myopic and dimmed.

 

We know this,

that we are a people 

freed and enslaved.

protecting the tablets

    even though we can’t see

    or touch them, 

engraved with everything 

we need and everything we lack, 

offering our love and suffering 

sometimes like fog

sometime like mana,

 

somehow we continue

turn towards each other

as if to ask: Who 

are you, who are we?

We step forward, we

step back. We raise a banner 

with our family, our tribe,

we align ourselves

with the ancestors,

we count our members

our wounds, our blessings

and as always we continue

our wandering.