New Food for New Life
In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.” — Exodus 16:2-15
There are few stories from scripture I like more than God's provision of manna in the wilderness. The name manna literally means “what is it?” It is a rich metaphor for the challenges and gifts of transitions. What has fed us before will no longer work. I suspect most of us find having to rely on the providence of God during change is stressful in an environment that would surely encourage one to want to hoard whatever seemed available. Old comforts are far easier to cling to, even if it is the melons and the onions you ate in slavery.
Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann helped me see Exodus from the wandering in the wilderness, to the provision of manna, and the ultimate giving of the law in a new way. By the time the people of God receive the law, it is helpful to see it more as a “rule of life” for those who are free and need to live together in community. This transforms “law” from a set of regulations to a structure to enhance life together. It also presupposes that if you have been in bondage, you can't spring fully formed into freedom. New life needs to be intentionally supported and nurtured.
The gift of manna is we are reminded that nurture and transformation is usually more about a set of daily habits. I remember a piano teacher reminding me years ago that it's much better to practice 15 minutes a day than to try and cram a week's practice into one really long session the day before your lesson. Muscle memory takes time and manna takes a while to really taste like the bread that is giving you real sustenance.
I've been reflecting a lot about how spiritual practices might also inform our lives as citizens who participate in public life. So much of the rhetoric in our country is polarizing and prone to reactivity and instant judgment. There are fewer spaces where we allow a pause for true listening and genuine curiosity. I believe the church is still a place where we can have important conversations in community. Our new adult formation class — Faith and Our Life as Citizens — is a way for us to have some thoughtful conversations. Using the thinking of Quaker writer Parker Palmer and our Baptismal Covenant, we are discussing “habits of the heart” that allow us to act in ways that align with our religious beliefs and our public life.
What I appreciate about the approach is it is intentionally not partisan and assumes we have diversity of thought in our community. It does not assume if we ask the same question we will arrive at the same answer. I know it is sometimes hard to frame these conversations to ensure that diversity is offered in a life-giving way, but these habits of connection promise a fruitful start!
Join us for this class as we hear from one another about the things that connect us and open ourselves to what we have to offer one another.
Peace, Beth+
