Saturday evening I had the opportunity to see part of Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments.” Even in this day of special effects this movie continues to stand out. My parents took me to see this film when it was released in 1956. Since we went to the late show and the movie itself was 220 minutes long, my parents suspected that I would not stay awake through the whole film. As it turned out I watched the whole movie from beginning to end, all 220 minutes of it. To this day I am captivated by epic stories of a hero fighting for a just cause.
The scene between Nefretiri and Sephora stands out for me in a unique way these 49 years later. Nefretiri goes to the house of Moses to warm him that Rameses intends to kill the firstborn of the slaves. When she arrives at the house of Moses she has this conversation with the wife of Moses, Sephora;
Nefretiri: You need have no fear of me.
Sephora: I feared only his memory of you.
Nefretiri: You have been able to erase it?
Sephora: He has forgotten both of us. You lost him when he went to seek his god. I lost him when he found his god.
This exchange fuels my question, was Mahandas Gandhi right when he said, “He who would be friends with God must remain alone or make the whole world his friend.”?
”I will sing of your salvation.” (Ps 7: see 15ab)