I’m a sucker for musical theatre and animated musicals. I love the emotion the mediums are able to evoke in the viewer, the messages they are able to carry.
One of my favourite animated musicals is The Prince of Egypt (1998) by Dreamworks Animation. Just hearing the first strains of the opening sequence is enough to bring me to tears. The story of how God brought His people out of the slavery in Egypt is an awe-inspiring spectacle of the magnitude of Yahweh.
Moses goes from being a refugee infant, to a member of the royal household, to a fugitive, to a leader of His people. Talk about an attack on identity!
At the start of lockdown, when public gatherings were prohibited, I came face to face with the question of my identity in the church, my identity in Christ. I have led praise and worship in various churches for almost 20 years. It is how I serve, it is who I am – singer, pianist, worshiper. Though I can, and certainly do these things in the privacy of my home; it is the primary means of my service to the body of Christ. So when there’s no longer people who gather, no longer people to serve in the way I’ve always known how – Who am I?
Fair to say I went through a bit of depression.
I’m certain Moses must have gone in a depressive episode when He fled into the desert, after killing the Egyptian in defense an Israelite slave. The hardship he must have faced in the wilderness, after a life of privileged palace life. The questions he must have faced about his identity.
He is taken in by the Midianites, where he meets his wife. In The Prince of Egypt, Jethro, the patriarch of the Midianite tribe, introduces Moses to his family as honoured guest. Moses’ response is self-effacing, “Please, sir, I’ve done nothing in my life worth honoring.” This is the opening of the song, Through Heaven’s Eyes, in which Jethro implores Moses to view his life from a different perspective:
A single thread in a tapestry
Though its color brightly shines
Can never see its purpose
In the pattern of the grand design
So how do you measure the worth of a man
In wealth or strength or size?
In how much he gained or how much he gave?
The answer will come
The answer will come to him who tries
To look at his life through heaven’s eyes
(Songwriters: S. Schwartz | Through Heaven’s Eyes lyrics © Dwa Songs)
The song’s visual montage shows Moses integrating with this family, realizing his identity as just part of a much greater whole.
So when my own established self-worth was erased by COVID-19 lockdown, where could I serve? Where could I be who God created me to be?
Well, where does charity start? At home.
I could be the husband my wife needs me to be. The father my children need be to be. I could be present. We had time.
With the privilege of being able to work from home, I have had the privilege of watching my children learn and grow before my eyes. Quite literally, both Emma (12) and Noah (4) have gone through growth spurts during this time, with the accompanying strain on our pantry!
I’ve watched my children learn in this new world of home-school and online lessons. Their processing and navigation of a world where everyone and everything is possible contagion.
I’ve been able to take the time to get down on the floor to play with Noah, see the joy on his face when he has my undivided attention. Enjoy his infectious laughter as I wrestle and tickle him.
I’ve been blessed to be able to help Emma with school work – as we navigate frustration together. Watch her take her first steps into young adulthood from the safety of our home, and impart wisdom and knowledge to her.
I’ve been able to watch my wife grow into an outstanding woman of faith and courage, overcoming her own health condition in world that should be triggering her at every turn. To be there for her when she has a bad day. To ask the question, “How can I make it better?” To hold her just to say how proud I am of her.
I have been blessed to more like the man of whom can be said: “For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” – (Genesis 18:19)
So when the global pandemic, or any other circumstance, has you questioning your identity, I encourage you with this:
Colossians 3:1-4 – “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Look at your life through Heaven’s eyes, and see the beauty your little thread brings to the great tapestry of life.
Andre George has been married to Sherayne George for 6 years on 24 June 2020. He is an incredible father to Emma (12) and Noah (4).
He wrote this article under duress.
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