‘Consider The Ordeal Of The Moral Leader’

Reading "Moses as Political Leader" today, I was struck by these paragraphs on page 11 and their message for my life:

Consider the ordeal of the moral leader. People of conscience (for example, Moses at the burning bush) often wonder why they have to be so burdened; conscience restricts their freedom, denies them pleasure, and troubles them without respite. God is Moses’ conscience (indeed, the product of his conscience, if you like), and Moses explicitly wishes the divine finger would point to someone else. But since God refuses to choose another, Moses finds himself obliged to lead his people. Conscience will not let him quit.

Moses’ problems come from his people’s rejection of his moral injunctions; how can a moral leader guide a people who do not share his precepts? How can Moses make his conscience the conscience of the entire population? Since God has not delegated His power to Moses, poor Moses has only his wits and his personality to help him. From time to time, God intervenes directly to lend a hand, but for the most part Moses is on his own. What is more, Moses is obliged to act morally; his adversaries are not. To say the least, he has a hard job.

About Luke Ford

I've written five books (see Amazon.com). My work has been covered in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and on 60 Minutes. I teach Alexander Technique in Beverly Hills (Alexander90210.com).
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