Most of us probably had seen the old movie " The Ten Commendments", made in 1950s, quite a long drawn movie, the runtime of almost 4 hours. I remember at time I fell asleep in the middle of it. But, I managed to wake up in a nick of time when the pivotal point of the movie just about to flex its theatrical prowess.
In order to demonstrate the awesome power of God in a way of intimidation to the Pharaoh of Egypt, Moses magically transformed the staff he carried into a viciously looking serpent. While desperately in need of crossing the Red Sea with Egyptian army hot in pursuit, Moses divided the sea for Israeli people to pass in safety. When the Pharaoh's army tried to follow them to pass the Red Sea, Moses again testify his almighty power by causing the roaring sea waves crumpling down, swallowed and drowned all of the enemy troop. In an era without computer generated special effect, I thought the visual and sound effect is no less powerful than the film made today.
We see the legendary hero like Moses not as a mortal human being like us, but a lot more like super human with a supernatural ability that can be bordered God-like, faultless, impeccable and virtuous. Well, you are about to change your perspective after reading this book of "Overcoming Life's Disappointment" about Moses or about any of our revered so-called saints. I can safely say that no one is really perfect in the land of living.
However, the point of the book is to use Moses's life as an example, showing us that in the course of our life, we are bound to encounter some minor inconveniences or other major tragedies that could throw us into the abyss of despair and disappointment. Life is not meant to be rose garden everyday, even rose garden does not bloom in all seasons. Moses had plenty of his share of exhibiting the dark side of human emotional roller coaster rides. If Moses, a hero favored by God, endowed a supernatural gift by God could fall into anger, despair and jealousy, we shouldn't be too hard on ourselves when life does not turn out the way we wanted and as a result we display some unwanted negative emotions.
It is not so much the destiny that we arrive that defines us, it is the struggle and the way we handle the struggle that really makes a mark of our existence. In a way, we are heroes in our spheres of influence that make up of our own unique world. Rabbie Harold S. Kushner has made a great contribution by showing us how we can overcome all of the life's disappointments and emerge in the end as a person wiser, and fulfilled knowing that we have risen above the circumstances however difficult it may be.
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