What gift of life have you already received today? Was it an amazing sunrise or simply a cup of coffee? A long walk or just getting out of bed? Maybe it was a song on the radio or your children dressing themselves (even if their socks didn’t match).
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you.” – Exodus 16:4 (NRSV)
Six weeks into their 40 years in the desert, he Israelites received God’s gift of life through the daily blessing of manna. Scholars have debated for centuries as to what the “bread from heaven” actually was. Some say manna was “supernatural food.” In medieval paintings, it’s pictured as Communion wafers raining down from heaven. Scientifically oriented scholars say the “fine, flake-like thing” was resin or seedpods from camelthorn bushes.
I tend to favor the natural over the supernatural interpretation. Finding edible resin or seedpods in the desert must have been a miracle to the Israelites. There wasn’t a desert-dweller among them. Back in Egypt, they’d lived in villages and cities and relied on the Nile for their crops. Now they’re in the wilderness with no clue as to what to eat.
Yet deserts can offer abundant life and food. Ask any O’odham or Mexican child in the Sonoran Desert region of Mexico and the United States, and they’ll tell you about saguaro fruit, nopales (prickly pear) tacos, or juniper berry bread. There was food in the desert for the Israelites. They just needed new wisdom to see it.
Perhaps that was the real miracle—recognizing the manna all around, discovering the gift of life already there.
Prayer
God, as we prepare for worship, help us recall the life we’ve already seen, heard, smelled, felt this Sabbath day. Help us remember the Holy Manna all around.
About the Author
Talitha Arnold is Senior Minister of the United Church of Santa Fe (UCC), Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is the author of Mark Parts 1 and 2 of the Listen Up! Bible Study series and Worship for Vital Congregations.