It has often been said that God did not give Moses Ten Suggestions, they were commandments, and they were in fact cast in stone. But if we isolate that section from the rest of the Book of Exodus, God can be seen as a tyrant, legalistic, judgmental and without mercy. That is not how God is envisioned, even here in the Old Testament.

Earlier in Genesis, we saw the selection of several men and women whose ethics were questionable, and an earlier Moses had even committed murder, but God saw potential in choosing these people as he continues to choose people today, not because of what they do, but rather for who they are.

When Moses asked the burning bush: Who shall I tell the people sent me? God replied. I Am – Amness - being itself and all human beings exist in the fabric of God's Divine I Am-ness; though at times we may feel like a pulled thread or even torn away. God mends and heals in mercy and love.

When Jesus asked: Who do they say that I am? Who do you say that I am? Jesus was totally aware of His own amness with the Father, the same amness He shared in the burning bush. But notice the question of Moses: Who am I? Moses is still wrestling with his own self-integrity and identity as we all do as long as we have breath in us.

In High School or College were you ever asked to write a paragraph or even a sentence on the question: Who am I? Did you find it difficult? I did, so much so that I always wrote what I wanted to be, my hopes rather than who I am at the present moment

Today I have much less difficulty with that question because I have grown in awareness of who I am in relationship to God and where I am in God's presence, but his presence is always present. To be in God's presence you must be in the present, you cannot be obsessing about something of the past or anxious about the future.

All time is present in the Divine I Am-ness. God may reach into the past and flash before your consciousness a moment of your history and connect it with the present, and in so doing give instantaneous healing. I am not saying that God will do that every time or for everyone. God knows what we need and when we need it, but the secret is in being still before God. In stillness we are able to know God, not just about Him.

Jesus in today's gospel invites us into this intimacy of knowing ourselves and knowing Him, and in turn letting both be known to others.