e.g. "Manna was the Israelites' food in the wilderness. They ate raw manna, boiled manna, baked manna, ground manna....There has been a good bit of speculation over the years about exactly what manna was....Does manna have to come out of nowhere in order to qualify as a miracle?...Or to put it another way, what makes something bread from heaven? Is it the thing itself or the one who sends it?
If your manna has to drop straight out of heaven looking like a perfect loaf of butter-crust bread, then chances are you are going to go hungry a lot....If, on the other hand, you are willing to look at everything that comes to you as coming to you from God, then there will be no end to the manna in your life."
See what I mean?
And, yes, I do have a favorite of hers, in case you'd like to try: An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith.
Barbara will be a valuable Spiritual guide for you during this retreat! Her passage about manna reminds of The Guesthouse" by Rumi:
ReplyDeleteThis being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Jalaluddin Rumi
from Rumi: Selected Poems, trans Coleman Barks with John Moynce, A. J. Arberry, Reynold Nicholson (Penguin Books, 2004)