Bread from Heaven

"He rained down manna upon them to eat
and gave them grain from heaven.

So mortals ate the bread of angels;
he provided for them food enough."

Psalm 78 24-25

Sunday we have the follow up story to feeding the 5000. It's the next day and when the people awake, they discover Jesus has left the vicinity. After puzzling over it, they determine he's gone to Capernaum and take off to find him.

Guess what they want? Yep. More bread. Jesus seems clearly annoyed. To paraphrase John's report of Jesus' remarks, "I'm kind of disappointed. I would hope you'd come for something more substantial--something more substantial than a good dinner and show." His comment goes right over their head. "Give us a sign." They go on to say, "Moses gave our ancestors manna. What have you got?"

Like many of us, they mistake the hole inside for hunger--hunger for food or for "stuff." We are a nation of obese people. Wonder why? We are a nation hungry for the latest--the latest gadget, the latest clothes, the latest piece of Web tech. Wonder why? Well for one thing, these are great distractions from having to think, to consider, to process, to reflect, to wonder. And that helps us avoid the pain of realization that food and this kind of stuff will never fill the hole.

We aren't likely to be eating the bread of angels. Too bad.

Peace,

Jerry+