Exodus 33:11 states, “ADONAI would speak to Moshe face to face as a man speaks to his friend. Then he would return to camp, but the young man who was his assistant, Y’hoshua the son of Nun, never left the inside of the tent.” (The Complete Jewish Study Bible)

When we step away from believing in the illusion—what some may call unbelief—because we have stepped too far into the world possibly or whatever our circumstances—there is a feeling of elation because we are like Moshe and Y’hoshua—face to face with God.

I felt this one morning as I was praying about a situation and when I stepped away from what I believed about it, God was pleased. I felt His overwhelming pleasure and well-being. I like how a poem by Hafiz, “An Astronomical Question” puts it.

What
Would
Happen if God leaned down
And gave you a full wet
Kiss?
Hafiz
Doesn’t mind answering astronomical questions
Like that:
Reciting all day, inebriated,
Rogue-poems
Like
This.

This is the point of the parable of the Prodigal Son—the Father who is so excited to see you no matter what you have done or not done–He runs and hugs you and plants a “full wet kiss” on your cheek. I cry happy tears (my unspoken, inebriated, rogue poems) because in my own growing up years and even into adulthood, God was this stern, angry old man waiting to punish me and that is the antithesis of His essence. As I cry, I release the conditioning that brought about this illusory persona of God.

I long to be like Y’hoshua and never leave the inside of the tent of my God and Savior. This is my fervent prayer.