Ehiyeh Asher Ehiyeh
If only we see scriptures of the world as writings of highly intelligent humans with insight to understand and foresight to predict our journey, we would make better use of them.
Exodus
Moses is given the most important job of his life on top of Mount Horeb. But he won't do it until he has Divine assurance. Assurance of what? That he will not get hurt? (He dies). That nothing bad will happen to the many people he is in charge of? (Many people die.) But Moses wants to know what would compel the powerful Pharaoh to let Israel go. God says that not only will Israel leave Egypt, but the Egyptians will be 'favorably disposed' towards them so much that the Egyptians will give them their silver and gold!
And who is promising all this? The voice says, “Ehiye Asher Ehiye” or “I will be what I will be”. Being. The God that is Being ‘..the same yesterday and today and forever’ (Hebrews 13:8) is promising the future.
Scripture
Scriptural wisdom is for the ages. It stays true to human nature yesterday, today, and forever. However much we try to be politically correct, we seem unable to outrun the evolution of our nature and it catches up with us. That is our survival. In the midst of catastrophe, we have an inbuilt capacity to look for meaning. This ability does not hinge on a person’s belief in God. But it is apparent that the writers of the various scriptures of our world had the insight to understand and the foresight to predict our journey. And offer us the wisdom of Being. But instead of recognizing these writers as highly intelligent men (or women), we attribute words to God, thus throwing the baby out with the bathwater in our modern age when anything related to God is anathema.
Today, we say we are oppressed, marginalized, and exploited. But we do not see that the world is fixed in such a way that it has already dealt with those who shackle us. Our oppressors are, in fact, favorably disposed toward us – they just don’t know it. It may be a job or an abusive marriage. Just like Israel plundered the Egyptians effortlessly, we also take away that which is most precious – knowledge and experience. The wisdom of the ages tells us that we may not be assured of safety, but that we will be made free. It is knowledge and experience that will be foundational in setting us up for life in Canaan – according to Exodus, the land flowing with milk & honey. As the story goes on to show, not everyone appreciated freedom. They did not see freedom in choosing their attitude. And so they perished in their discontent.
People seek counseling when they feel enslaved and powerless to break free. They have lost the capacity and the drive to move forward. Why does this happen? Sometimes the abuse had been going on for too long that the victim believes this is what life is. Their confidence is shattered. They do not see an alternative. Others fear freedom. And some others stay on, planning revenge. A few will leave with nothing but knowledge and experience. A few will choose the attitude that is useful.
Existential Psychology
When Viktor Frankl was moving from concentration camp to concentration camp, he had his sights on freedom. His vision of the land flowing with milk and honey and his place in that future kept him alive. With nothing but his knowledge and experience, he started a new life.
“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” – Viktor Frankl