The Insight of Endurance

(The Book of Exodus: Let My People Go)

‘Let my people go.’

Nine times Moses went to the Egyptian Pharaoh, Ramses II, to demand freedom for the Israelites, delivering his famous line, ‘Let my people go.’

Each time sent away. No surprises there. God told Moses that Pharaoh wouldn’t listen - God had hardened Pharaoh’s heart (God told Moses that too!). But he showed up anyway! Who knows why God didn’t just skip to the plagues. Perhaps it was for Moses’s sake – preparing him for all he must face on the other side of freedom, when the Israelites wished they’d just died in Egypt!

It seems we need to get used to facing the formidable Pharaohs of our inner and outer lives. It would appear that divine revelations, burning bushes, and religious experiences, might not be enough to fuel The Great Work of living life to the full. We must learn to act and endure in the face of Pharaohs. As Carl Jung puts it:

“The opus consists of three parts: insight, endurance, and action. Psychology is needed only in the first part, but in the second and third parts moral strength plays the predominant role.”

Insight is fundamental, but without action and endurance, it is dangerously fragile. Yes, we must shine a light on the dark and dodgy wiring that governs our decision-making, storytelling, and self-sabotaging. And yet, we can only transcend these fears, lies, and patterns, in rugged realm of action and endurance. So… if we fear rejection, and understand why, where, how, when, and with whom, we fear rejection, and see why that fear of rejection is rooted in some particular past experience, and therefore, not entirely relevant to our present day or future reality, we can, hopefully, also see, that we must, in order to out-grow our fear of rejection, move towards it, through it, and beyond it. We must act. Not once. But nine times. And nine is often a symbol of completion, divine will, and enlightenment, in the weird and wonderful world of religion. It is, after all, the largest single digit number – all numbers after that are combinations of single digits.

For me, in the context of this story, nine is a reminder that we should never give up on facing the formidable forces of fear, control, and a-smaller-life that persistently preach their poisonous propaganda. Like Moses, even though we know we are facing impossible odds, a ‘hardened heart’, or even a hardened world – we must dare to get up, show up, and shine.

Jungian Analyst, James Hollis, reminds us that Living an Examined Life involves a daily encounter with our core fears, and our deeply rooted instincts to avoid pain:

“Life’s two biggest threats we carry within: fear and lethargy. Every morning we rise to find two gremlins at the foot of the bed. The one named Fear says, “The world is too big for you, too much. You are not up to it. Find a way to slip-slide away again today.” And the one named Lethargy says, “Hey, chill out. You’ve had a hard day. Turn on the telly, surf the Internet, have some chocolate. Tomorrow’s another day.” Those perverse twins munch on our souls every day.”

We can’t go over them. We can’t go under them. Oh no, we’ve to go through them. Nine times. The number of enlightenment and divine will.

Endurance is indeed enlightening. It will show us what matters most. For if we are willing to endure a calling without any guarantees of external success, then we know our purpose is rich in meaning, beauty, and love. If we are only willing to endure something if it leads to a particular outcome, we will know what we seek: status, reputation, or security, perhaps?

I am reminded of some brilliantly exposing questions in Elizabeth Gilbert’s excellent Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear:

“What would you do even if you knew that you might very well fail? What do you love doing so much that the words failure and success essentially become irrelevant? What do you love even more than you love your own ego? How fierce is your trust in that love?”

Endurance is faith, hope, and love

Endurance ingrains our insights

Exposes our hearts

Reveals excellence

And shows our Pharaohs the limits of their lies

Endurance leads us to liberty

Frees us from falsity

Heals us with dignity

Brings pride to our falls

And so,

Let’s get up and go

Amen