The Metamorphosis

And when they came to Marah they
could not drink its water, because it
was bitter. That is why the place
is called Marah.
Exodus 15:23

Imagine the disappointment. Can anyone blame them for complaining and murmuring against Moses? What were they to drink? No one knew what to expect once they left Egypt. Was this to be the first disillusionment?  Then Moses "called upon" God and God showed him a tree, which "when he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet."

An unquenchable thirst can't be satisfied when drinking bitter water. But not everyone with a thirst has a Moses who has God's ear. Thirst, a metaphor, for whatever is bitter, may burrow in and stay for years. It may turn a deaf ear to petitions and amulets.

How do you explain to someone who thirsts that no one is available to heal the wound? Some people remain mired in unanswered requests. Where is their Moses? I know that some will say that we all must become the voice for those who have no voice or whose voice is raspy from too many requests.

We may learn to live in Marah. Without a Moses an alchemist will do. Bitterness, that tart taste in your mouth, turns into acceptance of what can't be changed --tinged with a regret for what can't be or what is lost.

But space is left for the thirst to turn sweet. For the words of scripture to replace the place of Marah.

" I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten..."
Joel 2:25