They called it, “What is it?”

14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.
15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.
Exodus 16:14-15

Manna, or man-hu in Hebrew, actually means, “What is it?” When the Israelites called it manna, they were actually saying they had no idea what it was. It tasted like coriander seed, was white, and apparently it was nutritious because they were able to live on it for 40 years. It also had a real short shelf life. No food storage going on here. And it was a blessing from heaven. But beyond that, they didn’t know what it was.

Reading about it recently I wondered about some things in my life. There have been things, people, events, that have shown up that I really don’t know how to describe them. They just are. I find myself responding with a well thought out “what?” or perhaps a puzzled “huh,” when I come across them. Of course in their own way they are blessings from heaven, but that doesn’t mean I can explain them beyond that. It is my own manna from heaven.

I imagine that each of us has blessings in our life that we can explain no better than the Israelites could explain manna. They just are. The important thing is to express gratitude for them, whatever they may be.