Sometimes, God seems far away, mysterious, frightening.
This was Moses' experience at the burning bush.
- The fire symbolizes God's other-worldliness - fire is the least material of all material things. It's like light; you can see it, but you can't touch it.
- It is burning in a bush, but the bush is not burnt up. That symbolizes that God's way of being is different from ours.
The name God reveals to Moses emphasizes the same thing: "I am who am." In other words, "I am the one who exists independently of every other being."
- Human existence is dependent: we come into the world through our parents; we are cared for by them, and even as adults, we need the support of a society, the companionship of others.
- We are dependent, God is independent. He simply is, from age to age. He has no need of anyone else.
But this far-away-ness of God isn't the whole story. It's not even the most important part of the story. He may not need us, but he wants us to be close to him.
Biblical scholars tell us that the Hebrew verb for "being" (used in God's name, "I am") doesn't just mean existence in the abstract. It also means to be near, to be close.
- God came close to Moses, and drew Moses close to him. In Christ and in the Eucharist, he does so even more.
- God tells Moses that he has heard the cry of his suffering people. Christ too is God's answer to the yearning of every human heart - his definitive answer.
Christ is the one who cultivates the soil around our hearts, as the gardener tends the fig tree in the parable. He wants our lives to bear the fruit of meaning, peace, and happiness.
God is far away - because he is God - but he is also close by, because he cares.