By Bishop Ann Svennungsen

Are you still washing all your groceries before putting them away? Do you still set your mail aside a few days before you open it?

It’s been more than five months since COVID-19 was declared a Global Pandemic. And, still, the ground keeps shifting. The rules keep changing. Wear masks? Stand 6 feet apart; 7 feet; 10 feet?

As much as I feel anxiety about the virus itself, I also feel anxious about the unknowns. I want so much to do what’s right, to take every precaution – even as “what’s right” seems to always be changing.

“The decaying manna affects everyone: those who watch it rot after taking too much and those who go without. Greed has amazing power to destroy community.” 

Indeed, I sometimes wonder if the wilderness grumbling of the Israelites was as much about coping with unknowns as it was about physical hardships. Yes, food was scarce; so was water. But, it was also hard to wander year after year without a clue about what was ahead.

 

IT WAS THEN THAT God opened the “wilderness school” (per Dan Erlander). In particular, the object lesson of the manna provides wisdom for living in times of uncertainty – whether it’s the wilderness or a global pandemic.

The lessons of the manna are plentiful:

  • Our daily bread comes from God’s hand.
  • God provides enough for all, if it’s shared.
  • Work is integral to life (God didn’t just set a jar of manna outside each tent; the people gathered it daily).
  • Work isn’t just about gathering. It’s about distributing; equitably distributing God’s gifts to all.
  • Hoarding is bad for everyone. It takes food from those who need it; it rots in the hands of those who squirrel it away.

The lessons also speak to us in today’s COVID wilderness.

In times of uncertainty, we live by faith in the God who provides daily bread. Every night, the Israelites went to bed with “nothing in the pantry.” They fell asleep trusting, that, when they awoke, God would provide the bread of life. And God was faithful.

“The object lesson of the manna provides wisdom for living in times of uncertainty – whether it’s the wilderness or a global pandemic.”

We live day by day in this pandemic, trusting in God’s provision. Indeed, anxiety about the future can suffocate us into missing the present. The manna story calls us to lean into this day – this moment. To be present.

But the manna story also calls us to be honest about greed and inequity. Specifically, how does hoarding spoil the community God intends? The decaying manna affects everyone: those who watch it rot after taking too much and those who go without. Greed has amazing power to destroy community.

The COVID pandemic has freshly revealed the effects of greed in our day; national and global inequities around healthcare, job security, housing, and the environment. Maybe our COVID wilderness will be a time for us to name the disparities, to envision a better way, and to work to curb greed and foster equity.

And, along with God’s gift of daily bread, we might recognize community as the greatest gift of all.