Carla bowed her head in silent prayer. She stood before a full pantry with a profound sense of gratitude. Her family had come a long way since the deep dark days of COVID. It had been a struggle, but finally they were on stable ground. In fact, she was pulling some soup cans to take to her church’s food bank.
She recalled the night she had started to feel hope. It was the evening her three children would not go to bed hungry. With schools closed she had worried about how to replace her kid’s school feeding program. She hated having to rely on the program in the first place, but as a single mom life had been a struggle. Losing her waitressing job to the shutdown had been the last straw. Bills had come due and the unemployment checks had barely kept food on the table. She had fallen behind in her rent and had worried about the eviction moratorium expiring. On top of that, the restaurant where she had worked had gone out of business.
She remembered finding a new job, a better paying one. Fortunately, relatives had watched the kids. However, there had been that gap before getting her first paycheck. The cupboard had been bare. Then a miracle had happened. A deacon from her church, one of the school social workers, had stopped by with three backpacks chocked full of essential food. Carefully managed, it had gotten them through the week.
She recalled the relief of that night, they had enjoyed the best boxed macaroni and cheese and peanut butter sandwiches she had ever tasted, followed by canned peaches. It hadn’t been much, but it had filled their bellies. Now, three years later she could look back and see how in their hour of deepest need God had reached out to them. It was all rather humbling.
Have you ever considered the spiritual side of food and eating? The Bible is full of examples of food shared as covenants were made. God’s covenant with Abraham was sealed with a feast, wedding celebrations were accompanied with meals, and then there is Isaiah’s vision of God’s Kingdom focusing on a feast of the finest food and drink…Also, Biblical hospitality demands that a host feed guests.
However, we treat eating as a simple biological necessity. So many calories must be taken in to the body for us to function. We forget, there is far more to the process than meets the eye. Eating should always be accompanied by a profound sense of awe and gratitude.
On the surface the acquisition of food and meal preparation seem to be straightforward. We buy the food, either already prepared for us, or ready to be cooked. How often do we pause to ponder how that food was processed and distributed, how that food was grown, or who provided the natural elements that became that food? You see, when we break down the process of eating, it all points us to one place – our Creator God.
The story of the manna and quail in the wilderness is remarkable, and tucked away in it is an important truth. God always has and always will provide. Sometimes when we examine this story, we ask the wrong question, which tends to obscure that truth. We want to know how and not when. Scientists and historians can explain the miracle. Manna, a flaky sweet substance forms under certain trees. Migrating quail flocks frequent that part of the world. Yet, it is not as critical to explain the how this food appeared, but rather when. It appeared when the Israelites needed it the most. So, it is important for us to remember that everything which sustains our living originates with God. That is why gratitude must be part of our daily routine.
Every meal, no matter how small or large, should begin in thankful awareness. One of the things that impresses me about this part of Michigan is how many people dining in public, pause to say a prayer. Even if it is just a silent and personal moment, thanksgiving should be a part of our eating routine.
The story of the manna and quail provides an even deeper spiritual understanding. It is a story about trust. Whenever I read through the wilderness escapades of Exodus, I am struck by all the complaining. That’s about all the Israelites seemed to do, complain, complain, complain. Now, I get this grumbling. Nothing makes me more irritable than the lack of food, water, or sleep. I cannot imagine wandering in the wilderness for much of your entire life. So, the complaining to Moses is perfectly understandable. When that hollow empty feeling stays in your stomach, you will do almost anything for three square meals a day, even return to slavery and Egyptian fleshpots.
When life is most challenging, that is when faith meets the road. “Why, Moses, did you bring us out here to die?” Yes, it is an understandable reaction. Who of us has not had the same reaction during crises? Why are you doing this to me God?” Could the Israelites have enough faith to trust God and what Moses was telling them?
In a way, the time in the wilderness was a faith proving ground for the Hebrew people. Could they learn to trust God enough to be sustained in the most difficult of times to come? The children of Israel would one day look back on these wilderness encounters and use them to bolster faith in the face of new challenges. God sustained our ancestors in the wilderness, God will sustain us today. It is all about trust.
Perhaps the most important lesson I learned during college was about trust. I came from a lower-middle class family and was the first in my family to go to college. We had limited resources and I had no right attending a private liberal arts college. I had no idea how my expenses were going to get paid. My Dad, whose faith was always more profound than my own, would say, “God will provide. If it is meant to be, God will provide the means.” And he was right. Every year, I would have about two thirds of the money needed, but something would always happen to cover that last portion. One year it was a short-term loan, which I repaid with summer work. A couple of years it was a bonus my father received at his work. He was right – God always provided. The important thing was not how, because it was often different, but rather when. When it was needed the money was there. I had to learn to trust in God.
At the center of the feeding in the wilderness story was a test. The manna and quail came with instructions. Do not horde and there will be no gathering on the sabbath. Hording led to spoiling. You see, there it is again, trust God to provide for each day. Or as Jesus taught, “Give us this day our daily bread…” This does not mean abdicating responsibility. This does not mean throwing up our hands and saying, “Well God, I am going to sit here in my tent, now you prepare me a five-course meal.” The children of Israel still had to do the gathering. Trust means understanding that God gives us tools for living and expects us to use them wisely.
I want to touch on one more aspect of the spiritualty of food. Sometimes we are the “how” God feeds others. In fact, we can be both the “how” and the “when” God helps other people. We have a role in feeding a hungry world. In a place where there is so much abundance, terms like “food insecurity” or “food deserts” should not be in our vocabulary. The reality that there are hungry people in our midst is a stain upon our collective soul. The fact that the Israelites were commanded to not horde the manna and quail was a reminder of their collective responsibility to each other. They were a community and their survival depended on working with one another. They were in this together and were expected to share their resources.
Boy, do we need to understand that concept today. As we continue to emerge from the pandemic, we need to understand that we are in this together. We need to help lift those who were hit so hard economically. There is still a lot of unresolved grief, and we must share that grief. We need to feed the hungry and protect the vulnerable with the best health and scientific practices. God has given us the tools to continue to move forward, we must use them wisely. We can and must do better, but we must do it together.
Finally, as we prepare to approach this table, let us remember that we all need to be fed spiritually, as well as physically. When Jesus calls himself the Bread of Life, he reminds us that he reveals God to us. He has demonstrated the depth of God’s love and invites us to not only embrace it, but to share it as well.
So, as we come to this table, let us eat the bread that truly satisfies, so that we will never hunger or thirst again.
