DAY 10

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A GREETING
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
(Psalm 51:10)

A READING
[The people] called it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Moses said, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded: “Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, in order that they may see the food with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.”’ And Moses said to Aaron, ‘Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord, to be kept throughout your generations.’ As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the covenant, for safe-keeping.
(Exodus 16:31-34)

MUSIC

A MEDITATIVE VERSE
The light of the eyes rejoices the heart,
and good news refreshes the body.
(Proverbs 15:30)

A REFLECTION
What I heard, and continue to hear, is a voice that can crack religious and political convictions open, that advocates for the least qualified, least official, least likely; that upsets the established order and makes a joke of certainty. It proclaims against reason that the hungry will be fed, that those cast down will be raised up, and that all things, including my own failures, are being made new. It offers food without exception to the worthy and unworthy, the screwed-up and pious, and then commands everyone to do the same. It doesn't promise to solve or erase suffering but to transform it, pledging that by loving one another, even through pain, we will find more life.
- from Take This Bread by Sara Miles

VERSE OF THE DAY
The poor shall eat and be satisfied.
(Psalm 22:26)

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Image by Tony Armstrong-Sly

The words “create in me a clean heart O God,” from Psalm 51 are often associated with the season of Lent when we enter into a time of penitent reflection. In that setting, the psalm verse is often heard in a context of cleansing ourselves from our sins and transgressions. Hidden in the meaning of the Hebrew word, however, is the relationship between what is clean and what is holy, which includes an element of justice. The word can translate also as ‘fair’. The word ‘create’ in the psalm signals a renewal and a transformation. The request is for God to make over our hearts in renewal and to transform our capacity for all that makes us holy.

This is part of what we bring to our worship services when we enter into Holy Communion. We can be fed and nourished in the wildernesses of our lives, just as God’s people were when they were fed by manna. Participating in the eucharist is a way to remember Jesus and to remember the stories that preceded Jesus. When we eat and drink together, Jesus feeds us, God feeds us, Creation feeds us and all the biblical stories of bread are re-storied in us.

The Exodus text tells us specifically that the manna came from coriander seed. Coriander had a vivid and rich presence in the ancient world. It was used not only for food and in cooking, but was considered medicinal and had a wide range of applications from snake bites to malaria. Coriander was used to help store and preserve foods over the summer. It could be that the writers of Exodus wanted to verify their story by reaching for an element that everyone in their day would be familiar with -- and also think of as capable of the miraculous. It would make sense to them that God would choose coriander to bring forward the manna.

When the people of the wilderness woke up to find manna — they were surprised by the capacity of God. How can we surprise each other with our work to make the world around us fair and holy? How can we make a just world, through the transformative work of caring for others?

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A STORY OF HOPE
A Lutheran community in Michigan decided to use a nearby plot of land to grow the wheat for their own communion bread. In a process that spanned a year, the parish partnered with a local community gardens agency to nurture their own garden in a way that also showed stewardship of the soil, using principles and practices of permaculture to enliven the ground in which they planted their crop. When the wheat was harvested and made into flour, the steps were all witnessed. The result was communion bread they themselves had made with the labour of hours in the garden, and a commitment to deepening "place-based Christian discipleship." How does your faith community show stewardship of the land it is on? (Read the full story in this article in Sojourners.)

Image by Betsy King-McDonald, as found in Sojourners magazine.

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LC† Seeds of Hope is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook, and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help support the ongoing work.
Thank you and peace be with you!