Manna From Heaven
March 15 2008


I think Moses must have sweat blood
when he called down his miracles,
unsure he would be heard.
Because God, back then, was kind of cantankerous
temperamental
maybe even insecure,
what with all the praise and reassurance he demanded;
the unquestioning faith.

So Moses did not raise his hand
proclaim some mumbo-jumbo
and watch the sea divide
— gumbo mud
with fish flopping on their sides
between two shimmering walls,
trembling
holding back
the monumental weight of water.

No, it took a brave man to wade in first
forging ahead, undeterred;
to his knees, then his chest
then his face about to submerge.
And only then did the impossible occur
— the water miraculously parting,
and a flood of slaves surged into freedom.
Which means it was not a wrathful God, after all
who drowned the Pharaoh’s men
charging after them;
it was their own lack of faith.

So what if that first brave man had been able to swim,
would the sea have parted?
Would the rest have followed him?
And would we even remember Moses
or believe in his absent God?

Today, there are no more miracles,
and I find myself incapable of faith.
Like that ancient Hebrew, I wade right in;
but I am strong, and believe in my own power.
And a more serene God
is content to let me swim.