Day 44, or February the 13th. My rose-tinted specks are still in good working order.
Our thoughts today are from Numbers, chapter 11, verses 5 and 6. We remember the fish we
ate in Egypt at no cost, also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. But now
we have lost our appetite. We never see anything but this manna.
First the big picture surrounding these verses. The moaning and complaining continued, and
the wilderness wandering had only just begun. It's been exactly one year since God freed
the Israelites from Egypt, but memories fade quickly. In no time at all they were recalling
the nice things they were missing. They make no mention of the taskmaster's brutality
or the making of bricks without straw. They just remember the negatives. Before they set
off they celebrated Passover, which must have been a spiritual high point for the whole
nation. God never leaves their camp, as He guides them with a cloud, which would stop
at a place where camp was to be made that night. When the time was right it would set
off again, and they followed it, until it stopped again. There was also the sound of
two silver trumpets that would be a signal for the tribes to leave in an orderly fashion,
as agreed. They hadn't gone far before grumbling could be heard. It got louder and louder,
and even Moses' sister Miriam and her brother Aaron were amongst the moaners.
And now our action step for today. Just as we don't have to teach our children to misbehave,
we need no instruction on how to moan. It seems to me that some people are particularly
gifted at it. I don't like criticism, and I don't know anyone who does, do you? However,
when the comments are made in order to improve my life or me, they are so much easier to
bear. If only I could see the positive side first, instead of having to look for it. The
negative jumps into my face very easily, and I have to dodge around it in order to see
the other side, the positive side. Why not train yourself to be the sort of person who
says, on the other hand?