Our hunger for food, our longing for human touch,
and our hunger for God are all part of the same desire
that shapes our famished human lives,
and challenges us to take risks, to engage with others,
and to strive for liberation, not just for us but for all.
--M. Soledad del Villar T.
Freedom is, ultimately, uncertain and unpredictable. One of the first lessons we all must learn in order to be free is how to “bear” uncertainty and trust in the unknown. In the biblical myth of the Exodus, the manna was a vehicle for learning this lesson. Each day for forty years, the Israelites would have to go out and gather their daily supply of manna—just enough for that day….
The manna challenged the Israelites to develop beginner’s mind—to experience something new and fresh while eating the very same thing each day. Instead of seeking the answers that might put their questions to rest, the manna taught the Israelites to continually live the questions, to understand that the journey to freedom is about remaining awake and curious and not going into sleep mode….
Beginner’s mind is a way of life. Each day we are challenged to see the same familiar people and landscapes with new eyes. Just as the cosmos is created and sustained anew each moment, everything is alive and changing, ourselves included, if we are spiritually awake and paying attention…. When we see existence as alive with possibility, we come out of Egypt, our personal places of bondage and constriction.
--Estelle Frankel,
Center for Action and Contemplation
Image source: Marguerite Huré, Manna, Notre-Dame-de-Toute-Grâce, France, https://www.tripadvisor.es/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g1194572-d3258706-i111429460-Eglise_Notre_Dame_de_Toute_Grace-Passy_Haute_Savoie_Auvergne_Rhone_Alpe.html
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