Boxing Day was spent exploring the story of Moses using
two different forms of art. The first was the film Exodus: Gods and Kings and
the second was the book Five Stones and a Burnt Stick: Wisdom Stories about
Intimacy by Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga Steele. In this review I intend to look at
each individually, but also how engaging with both together provides an
interesting new look at Moses.
Exodus: Gods and Kings from director Ridley Scott which
was released in the UK today is in many ways a retro movie; a large scale
biblical epic with more than a feel of a bygone era to it. Christian Bale plays
Moses in a way which has depth but it is Joel Edgerton as Ramses, the Pharaoh
in the latter part of the film, who has the type of intensity which one
associated with the classic actors of the 50's and 60's. He would have fitted
in perfectly alongside Richard Burton of Charlton Heston and the scenes with
him and his baby son, (both when alive and dead), were particularly moving.
Whilst employing some dramatic licence it was reasonably
near to the Judeo-Christian narrative apart a couple of key things. The first problematic
movement away from the text was the fact in the film Moses had no problem with
speech and thus his brother Aaron was not required to speak for him. The second
was when he left to go back to Egypt his wife and son did not join him in the
film. Neither was a problem in itself but was slightly annoying. It was also
not made clear in the film that Moses would not see the promised land and
rather it would be Joshua who would lead them into Canaan. That said it was far
better than Noah, the other recent biblical narrative. Whilst not the best film
I have seen this year it was certainly not the worst and if you have a couple
of hours to spare it is certainly worth a trip to see.
As I indicated in the introduction I also read Five
Stones and a Burnt Stick today. It is a short book, a mere 90 pages, which uses
Moses to explore the theme of intimacy in its various forms. The six chapters,
sandwiched between the prologue and epilogue, alternate between looking at
intimacy with God, self, a sexual partner, (in this case Moses' wife Zipporah),
and one's children.
This is a creative piece of theological writing which
imaginatively uses Moses as a springboard. Whilst it does contain reference to
the biblical narrative, like the film, it veers from it to explore the emotions
and intimate relationships Moses had. This means one is forced to move away
from the common problem one has when reading the bible of reading in a way
which makes the key characters somewhat one dimensional. Rather you engage with the character as a
person who had emotions, relationships and a whole lot more going on in the
background than the biblical narrative might tell you.
The strength of this approach is that it challenges the
reader to re-engage with the patriarch and what can be learnt from him. We are
encouraged through this to think about our own intimacy and relationships.
Three chapters do this particularly well, these are entitled The First Stone:
Demarcation, The Forth Stone: Disclosure and The Fifth Stone: Discovery.
The first of these briefly explores the importance of
having our own boundaries, which contains our "own sacred space".
Through this we protect ourselves but also ensure that we respect others and
allow them their own freedom.
The middle uses the concept of the Leviathan to explore
the way in which fear exists within each of us and is the biggest curse
resulting from man's sin. Yet, as this chapter proclaims, fear can be overcome
if we understand we cannot fight it but rather through disclosing it,
confronting it, naming it and eventually taming it.
The final of these chapters, the one on discovery explores
vocation. It links finding one's true vocation to freeing the soul and so it is
possible to look "beyond the interests of money, power and lust". It
is interesting that Steel is not only a writer but also an artist and Anglican
priest and as such should know much about the topic of following ones
vocation(s). Therefore, it is perhaps not surprising that this was probably the
most profound part of the book.
These were the strengths, yet there is a major weakness
and it is one in some way shared with the film. There was an awkwardness in the
romantic, more sexual scenes between Moses and Zipporah. Such scenes are
notoriously difficult to write and it has to be said that whilst the screen
writers handled them better than Steel in both they were slightly awkward and
made one relieved to have got past them. The intensity of the relationship
between Zipporah and Moses and the sexual nature of it was important but could
have been portrayed equally well implicitly.
I would recommend the book, but with the caveat that you
may wish to skip quickly over parts of Chapter III Welcome Home and Chapter VI
The Last Night where the awkward prose weakens the generally imaginative
narrative.
I would also recommend the approach of reading the book
and watching the film in a close time frame. I found they did complement each
other and having watched the film I was able to picture the dialogue between
God and Moses in a way I hadn't previously. In Exodus: Gods and Men God (Yahweh)
is portrayed as a child, who looks somewhat like a young Buddhist monk and in
both book and film the dialogue between them was strong and complex. This
portrayal of their relationship was a strength of both.
Both the book and film are worth giving time to I think
because they help the reader engage anew with the biblical narrative in Exodus
but also to think beyond it. The nature of the two gives the reader an
invitation to bring their own imagination to the text and allow God, through
the Holy Spirit, to speak to them through this.
Five Stones & a Burnt Stick by Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga Steele, (2014), Whispering Tree Original Books, ISBN: 978-0-9927363-1-6
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