MANNA EVERY MOMENT

“He fed you with manna, something neither you nor your parents knew anything about.”

--Deuteronomy 8: 3, in The Message (a paraphrase translation by Eugene Peterson)

As I was climbing up and down the steps in the park on this foggy morning and thinking about the above passage, it occurred to me that I am constantly fed with manna. Each and every moment, a totally new thought appears like an unforeseen gift. I have no idea where these ideas come from or how they are produced. Each one, though sometimes seeming otherwise, is utterly new – an idea that “neither [I] nor [my] parents knew anything about.” Also, each thought is entirely beneficial, though again, that’s not always immediately obvious. Moment by moment, each idea that appears is like “manna”, which, as one dictionary defines it, is “something very welcome or of great benefit that comes unexpectedly.” I don’t always recognize the value of a thought, but, if I could zoom way out and see the ‘big picture’, it would be clear that every idea that emerges in the universe plays some noteworthy role in the workings of the cosmos. They come -- these endless, trustworthy thoughts -- like unanticipated gifts, like manna made for all of us.

--July 2, 2008