What shall I tell them?

Haiku for a calling

Fugitive Moses

finds himself in Midian;

marries, settles down.

Tending Jethro’s sheep

in the wilderness, comes to

Horeb, God’s mountain.

An angel from God

appears in a firey bush.

The bush is unburned.

Moses stops to look.

Well who wouldn’t? Quite a sight;

what is going on?

The Lord speaks to him.

Moses, take off your sandals;

this is holy ground.

It is I, the God

of your fathers: Abraham,

Isaac and Jacob.

I have heard the cries

of my people in Egypt;

I know their anguish.

I am sending you.

You will deliver them, take

them to a new land.

Must be a mistake,

God; you surely can’t mean me!

I will be with you.

When you bring them out

of Egypt you will worship

here, on this mountain.

What shall I tell them

when they ask, What is God’s name?

I am who I am.

Go to your people,

those Israelites in bondage;

say, I AM sent me!

© Ken Rookes 2023