What is Mannastery?

“It is manna:”

This is our first curious encounter with the word, manna, in Scripture. While the first half of the sentence reads like a statement, the second half indicates that it might, in fact, be a question.

“And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.”

What exactly is a question doing masquerading as a statement? Was it left there deliberately? Was it meant to reveal something? Or, perhaps, give us cause to look into a possible errancy? Is it meant to create doubt? Or clarity? What does the revelation of a previously undiscovered source of information mean to you personally, though? Has it piqued your interest in the slightest? Does the thought of potentially new perspectives to explore excite you at all? If it does, then you will enjoy the time you spend here. You will find varied content to lean on, intended to provide you with seemingly disparate dots to connect, nourishment to sustain you as you journey on towards a more resilient relationship with God. By directing you towards intentional and meaningful self reflection, this living, breathing and ever-growing repository’s overarching purpose is to facilitate a shift towards an other-centredness in thought, word and deed. 

According to Strong’s concordance, the literal translation of this first instance of manna (H4778) in the original Hebrew text is “what is it?”.

So, how does this hidden question so perfectly define our purpose? By being all about the about the questions. Answers are limiting. Questions are expansive. Answers give you a reason to stay close to the surface – where there is familiarity, surety and comfort. Questions, on the other hand, give you reason to go looking below the surface – where there is ambiguity, the fear of the unknown, and even more questions. The personal ones. The ones that matter. These are the questions that take you even deeper while making it easier to let go of the false sense of control all of us humans can’t help but hold onto – that which keeps us from questioning the premature urge to rise to the surface. Relinquishing this false sense of control will help you discover the many treasures hidden in the very depths of your soul. There is a reason why the word deep is so strongly associated with strength and fortitude. 

There will be questions that beget questions, some that beget answers, some that might seem to lead nowhere, some that bring peace, and others anguish. This is all a part of the journey and despite the many trials and setbacks that you will have to face along the way, I urge you to journey on, for there is a special and unfathomable joy to be had when you inadvertently stumble upon once hidden rabbit holes in strangely familiar surroundings, only to realise that they were there all along, previously encountered masquerading as answers in response to questions posed in completely unrelated contexts.
And what exactly is this special and unfathomable joy that lies hidden in plain sight?

It is manna.

Let us break down our logo and use its most elementary unit to build our way back up.

It all begins with a simple choice. Let’s say you are in a room, and you see two doors in front of you through which you can leave.

While this may seem like a purely dualistic choice at first, wouldn’t you say that you could just as well stay right where you are and choose not to leave the room?

While we may have moved beyond the dualistic and added a third option, we still don’t have enough room to consider the choice and ask questions which, as we have previously established, is the overarching purpose of this site. For this to happen, we would need to consider everything but the three options.

Now we are left with a potentially infinite ambiguity which wouldn’t really help our cause on a practical level, for without the clarity our dualistic choices offered, we would probably never ever leave the room. What we really need then, is for both processes to co-exist. One must be able to inform the other. We need to find a way to create a certain harmony between these two worlds. 

So, how do we get across this disconnect without losing all perspective? 

The answer is right there, hidden in the question.

The word across is defined as “from one side to the other” and it is derived from Anglo-Norman word, en-crois which means “on a cross”. 

A bridge to connect these two worlds. One that yields the same result irrespective of the direction we choose to approach it from.

By making a small adjustment and by crossing over at an angle, not only do we keep our relationship intact but also dispel all notions of a strikethrough.

With all the talk of questions and rabbit holes, we wouldn’t be staying true to ourselves if we didn’t dip below the surface.

So what else can we do with our lines? Time for another breakdown.

The first three vertical lines, when placed side by side quite clearly represent three yet continue to remain singular entities when considered separately.

However, the fourth line, is ambiguous on its own and only brings clarity and reveals a hidden four when combined with the lines that preceded its introduction.

Now if we were to consider our three lines as one of the three dimensions of the world we occupy, then what does our fourth line, our cross, now reveal? A hidden fourth dimension? One of the spiritual kind, one unseen yet ever present?

If we were to draw parallels with how we have come to understand the Trinity, we could see our singularly whole yet simultaneously co-existing dimensions as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We could re-arranging our first three lines to represent the Trinity in the same way, where the Father is at the centre and the Son and Holy Spirit on either side and see it like this :

Let us now re-introduce the fourth dimension. Our bridge, from earth to the firmament, our connection upwards to the Trinity, unseen yet ever present. The seemingly missing link that connects our two worlds. The foundational relationship that keeps us tethered to that which represents our spiritual dimension in its very essence. The ever present nature of what what was once unseen, now revealed in a representation we know and love. One that has been with us all along, right by our side.

Our cross to get across.