“We remember the fish we had in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.” (Numbers 11:5)
As we approach Thanksgiving, many of us have food on our minds: turkey & dressing, mashed potatoes, cranberries, pumpkin pie. But leeks and onions? Not so much!
Two years after the exodus, vegetables were on the minds of the Israelites. There was much complaining. Their request was strange. They weren’t facing an imminent threat, Pharaoh’s army, starvation, or thirst. Egypt was years behind them.
Before dismissing the Israelites’ longing for cucumbers as mere whining, do you hear a deeper longing: a longing for home?
Our 8-year grandson recently declared, “I don’t like 2020!” Earlier in covid he was missing sleepovers.
What are you missing as we journey this unknown season? In what ways does 2020 feel like a wilderness journey?
It’s important to be attentive to our longings, especially when our Thanksgiving celebrations will look different this year.
For the Israelites, their longings were really the longing for home, whether back in Egypt or in a strange new world.
Prayer:
God with us, in the wilderness, your people learned that their real home wasn’t in a particular place. It was in your heart.
Help us to find our home there, too. Amen
No Friday Prayer this week. See you next Friday!
Holding you in prayer,
Kara