Manna icon

When least expected,

The manna

Comes.

Like a burst  of lightning in a moonless desert night

-Azriel Yakov, Manna

 

 

Manna seems a strange place to begin thinking about money. But maybe we can’t think about money until we have remembered the surprising generosity so often seen in the Scripture stories about God:

Manna and quail and sweet water in the desert;

Jesus encountering people as they are and challenging them to carefully sift through their alliances;

The early church sharing everything in common, breaking bread together across social boundaries.

 

Over the last month or so we’ve been asking the question of how we, as a community together, form habits and practices that mean that we don’t just know about God’s goodness intellectually, but in the everyday decisions we make. How do we trust God in the tangible, material fabric of our lives? What would it look like for Hope Uniting to live out of the surprising reality of God’s generosity and abundance?  We’re going to need to find ways of answering these questions together.

One of the things I forgot to do on Sunday was to share this week’s challenge to help us think through living out of God’s abundance. Never fear, here it is for you to think about (and perhaps even participate in!).

This week I’m going to explore God’s abundance by…

·         Making the dishes a time of prayer;

·          Picking one night of the week to turn off the Screen and stop being bombarded by stuff: no tv, no computer, no iPad etc.;

·         Buying nothing new throughout week;

·         Praying these words each morning:                      

” Lord, make us more thankful for what we have received;

make us more content with what we have;

and make us more mindful of other people in need. Amen.”            

 

As we live in awareness of God’s abundance this week, may we be aware of God’s presence. And perhaps someone else will experience manna falling through the generosity that we share. In the ending words of Azriel Yakov’s poem:

“And when the manna falls,

God’s fingertips

Descend and gently

Touch you.”

1 reply
  1. Andrew Johnson
    Andrew Johnson says:

    Thanks Bec.
    I had your reminder to trust in God’s abundance on my mind as I led the funeral this morning. Even in the midst of the family’s grief, it did not feel like despair – stories told, tears shed and some almost nervous laughter shared. Instead of overwhelming loss, there was the abundance of love shared in their remembrances, and the strong presence of a family in each others arms. And the Clovelly Bowling Club provided a guard of honour for the family. It was at once very Australian and suburban, and yet spoke about the overflowing presence of love in that moment.

    There is indeed an abundance around us, but I suspect we let the voices of fear speak loudly in our ears. I really must get back to practising stillness for one night a week!

    Reply

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