Deuteronomy 26:1-11 21 February 2010

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, ‘Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’ When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labour on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’ You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.


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As part of their annual harvest tithe, the ancient Hebrews remembered their origin stories and their founding fathers. As you read and think about this passage, remember your own origin stories. Our shared stories of the voyages of Columbus, the Pilgrims, the Revolutionary War and its heroes, and Ellis Island come to my mind. Native Americans, African Americans and other groups have other stories in addition to these. Notice too that none of these stories really happened in the way we remember and tell them. In the telling, we leave out inconvienet truths and emphasize the parts that make us look good or make for a good story.

Also, consider your personal origin stories with their heroes and villains. What do you include in your story? What do you edit out? The late Henry Berne, one of my mentors, reminded me that the stories we tell are "our" stories and that we don't have to tell them in a way that makes us a helpless victim. Is there a way you can tell your story differently that empowers you?