I visited with an old friend today, who said he was trying to learn to live in the present. Not spending his days in a game of "whack-a-mole," not anticipating the next bad thing. It does one no good to anticipate only bad. We are living lives of blessings from G_d, and there reason to expect that the next thing will be another. My friend was learning to enjoy the divinely provided manna of the moment.

Manna is a funny Hebrew word which roughly means, "what is it?" In Exodus we learn that the people were hungry and G_d provided for them each day. "And the people of Israel…gathered, some more, some less. But when they measured it…he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; each gathered according to what he could eat." Manna was available for only a short period of time each day and could not be saved until the next day. (Well, there was an exception for the Sabbath.) Manna was a gift from G_d, but a gift one had to go gather and share. Jesus told us to ask G_d for our daily bread, ask for forgiveness, and for us to give forgiveness. Again share what you have been given: "Do you love me? Tend my sheep, Feed my sheep."

Faith is a continual awakening. It is seeing the Divine present, where nothing of the sort appeared earlier. With that evolving revelation of the internal, heartfelt, truth of our faith, each day, each step, each moment of life opens a clearer view in that reflection of our mirrored perspective. We begin to notice tiny bits of the Gifts and Grace of G_d and these vignettes cause us to anticipate more. While there are periods offering a darker view in our life, clinging strongly to the faith make us yearn and hope. We, through faith in the promise, can endure anything around or before us. Hope gives us a renewed strength. Along the path from birth to death, hope is an essential element for our long human journey. Love is G_d's eternal embrace, and the reason we always can have the Hope which our Faith generates. G_d's upholding Love is the first thing that we should emulate, and only thing we should never doubt.

St. Paul in Corinthians tells us that Love is the greatest of faith, hope and love. "Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; Love is not irritable or resentful; Love does not rejoice in wrong doing, Love rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things." We shall have those times when it seems we are continually having to participate in "Whack-A-Mole," bad things will happen, but we must begin to see these as an aberration, not something to expect. As children of His creation, we can put down our mallet more often than we raise it. Our manna from G_d's love is present in every moment of our life. We only have to go out and gather it.

Pax,

jbt

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