When he was forty years old,
it entered his heart
to help his brothers,
the sons of Israel.
And when he saw someone being mistreated
he came to help them,
and he took revenge
on behalf of the person who was being mistreated
by striking down the Egyptian.
So he supposed his brothers would understand
that God was saving them
by his hand.
But they did not understand.
Then on the next day
he saw (two men) fighting –
and he tried to make peace between them, saying
‘Men, you are brothers;
why do you harm each other?’
But the one harming his neighbour
pushed him aside, saying:
‘Who appointed you ruler and judge
over us?
You do not wish to kill me
in the way you killed
yesterday
the Egyptian, do you?’
Then Moses fled,
at this word,
and he became a sojourner
in the the land of Midian,
where he ‘became father’ to two sons.
Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.
Thomas More (c.1478-1535)