The first reading today is another example from the Old Testament that understood at merely face value can seem odd.
On the surface, God gets angry and threatens to destroy the world. Moses calms God down. God changes his mind.
On a deeper level it is something much more. All human beings want to be accepted, want to be loved. The ones who say "I don't care what others think" are often the ones who care the most.
God in this reading has no intention of destroying Israel. He makes the statement as a test. He wants to see what kind of man Moses really is. Or perhaps better said, he wants Moses to see what kind of man Moses is.
All human beings are social by nature. We all have in us a fear of rejection whether we admit it or not. We will sacrifice the truth in order to fit in.
Most often we do it by silence. Moses proved to be a man dedicated to the truth. Let us pray that each of us can have that same dedication.
