ART AS GIFT
One of my favourite acts of rebellion in the great narratives of history is the Hebrew flight from Egypt thousands of years ago, under the leadership of Moses. The biblical version goes like this: tired of the tyranny of Pharaoh and the effects of slavery on the people he comes to lead, Moses says let my people go, Pharaoh says no, and then God wipes out every firstborn as the final act of an escalating series of plagues. Gruesome stuff.
Fast forward to the desert. The escaped Hebrews—up to a million strong—are now wandering aimlessly, and hungry. So God provides a food they call manna, a word meaning, “What the heck is this stuff?” Seriously, that’s what it means. Though I doubt the word “heck” is a literal translation.
Manna was ...
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