Former Senator Alan Simpson said once, "Up in Wyoming we have more cattle than people.  We like it that way."  In the Senator’s opinion, apparently it is easier to deal with cattle than people!  Our first reading comes from the Book of Numbers and deals with the leader of the Israelite people, Moses.  Moses was a reluctant leader.  Moses wanted to settle down in Midian and to be a sheep rancher.  But God had other plans for him.  Moses was to lead his people out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, into the Sinai desert, and to the Promised Land.  Along the way, what happened?  They got lost.  They ran out of food.  Finally the people started to complain.  Have you ever experienced a group of people complaining?  It can be most stressful.  Do you know what stress means?  There are a variety of definitions.  Stress is the result of carrying too much weight in your life.  The definition of stress varies depending on who is asked to describe the term.  The causes of stress are just as diverse; everyone reacts to what they feel is stress in a different way.  Stress is the impact of life experiences on your emotional and physical well-being, brought on by extra activities, demands, involvement or concerns. Stress is the natural result of the changes that happen in our lives.  Stress can be a very difficult feeling to overcome, if not treated correctly. Stress is an overload of complicated information that a person tries to register and accept.  Well, again, in our first reading, Moses suffered stress on his job.  It is a great story.  It is surprising that Moses, of all people, would feel stressed out.  But that is what is so great about the Bible.  It has real people in it.  The Bible does not hide the fact that the heroes and heroines of our faith are real human beings, like you and me.  So what does Moses do?  Initially, Moses complains to God.  The work load is too much for him.  He tells God, “I cannot carry all this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me.  If this is the way you will deal with me, then please do me the favor of killing me at once, so that I need no longer face my distress.”  So God tells Moses to gather seventy elders and shares some of the spirit that Moses has onto these seventy elders, including two who were not in the gathering.  Sharing your spirit; sharing your work load; helping another carry their burdens – these are means to deal with stress.  It is a chance to decrease the stress level of oneself or another.   Try it this week.  See what happens.
 
Msgr. Mike