When Moses encountered the Burning Bush in Exodus Moses was
faced with a traumatic situation. His past was now to be
reconfigured in light of a new, profoundly life-altering
experience. The unexpectedness of the burning-bush was exactly
what Moses needed to call him to a deeper, more whole-self, a
renewed identity and call or vocation. Moses was clearly aware
of the Hebrew people’s oppression when he fled for his life out
of Egypt and yet his initial (violent) response we might
consider an over-response. He killed the Egyptian attacking the
hebrew-worker, his rage got the better of him, compounded by
undoubtedly many earlier thrashings now familiar to any
oppressed people. In a way, Moses’ outburst is quite
understandable. While he was raised in the lap of the the
Empire’s finest, he knew where he came from, he knew his roots,
and he knew of the suffering of his people. When he finally had
a chance to show whose side he was really on, he over-reacted
and in his over-reaction minimized his effects. So, as with