Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land. And the LORD said to him: this is the land I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.
Moses dies before entering the land. He sees it, but doesn't possess it. He's been walking toward this for forty years, and he stops at the edge.
There's something deeply human about this. We don't always get to see the fruit of our labor. We don't always get to live in the world we helped build. Some of us are meant to prepare the way for others.
I think about my parents. They worked hard so I could have opportunities they didn't. They see some of what their labor built, but they won't see all of it. And I think they're okay with that because they understand: that's not what they were for. They were for preparation.
Moses prepared the people. He taught them the law. He shaped their character. He led them through the wilderness. And then he let go. Joshua gets to lead the conquest. Moses gets to see it but not possess it.
There's a kind of grace in that. Moses' life had meaning even though he didn't get everything he was aiming for. His fulfillment wasn't about crossing the Jordan. It was about faithful preparation.
I'm learning to be okay not seeing how my work ends. Teaching students I won't know the futures of. Writing things that will only matter after I'm gone. Preparing a world I won't fully inhabit. That's okay. That was always the assignment.
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