After reading Sue Bender's book "Everyday Sacred: A Woman's Journey Home" I just couldn't get some of her thoughts off my mind. She talked about mid century monks that took their "begging bowl" out each day into the community and whatever was put into their bowls was their rations for that day. They would go home and put their bowl away and were contended with it's contents rather much or little.I thought about how God provided for the Israelites in the dessert with a daily portion of manna and after mulling these thoughts around for some time, the idea of the Manna Bowl came to me.
The Manna Bowl represents everything that comes into my life on a daily basis. My goal is to be aware of the daily happenings and glean any insights that will help me grow into a more balanced person.
I want to be more aware and I want to accept with gratitude all that comes into my life each day. To learn the wisdom dropped into my bowl from the smallest to the largest of gifts. They can all be blessings if I choose to see them in such a way and to learn the lessons they offer me to be a more balanced person.
The Blessing Bowl will be my companion everyday and will be photographed so that at year's end, I can see all the facets of gift giver.....
A word about the bowl itself. It came from a potter in Vermont and what I love about it the most is that it is a second. Because it wasn't perfect, it was cast aside. I found beauty in it's flawed state and aim to give it prime importance in this project called The Manna Bowl...