Middling Miracle

Exodus 16:17-18

The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

I have been reading the Bible again with a focus on reality crafting, and this seemingly innocuous verse stood out like a sore thumb. What are the odds that, if you send out thousands of people without measuring cups to gather something, all of them will gather "just as much as they needed," to the degree where you include this accuracy in the written account? As I tried to picture this, I saw ether waves following each gatherer, smoothing the size of the realm, each hand, and every piece of manna for each as they gathered, to ensure that this balance was achieved. The cadence of the verse feels almost poetic, as if this general exchange slipped into a nursery rhyme for them, designed to let focus slip from the task. Later- quite soon- people intentionally gathered too much and it went to the flies, but this first blush account feels childlike, as if intention aligned can produce a perfect result, as defined by all observers, without additional effort.

I have begun using the term "middling" as a way of drawing attention to the mean of any equation; the mean is often a less obvious juncture in equations than the poles, but must be satisfied- real- nonetheless. In this way, "middling" becomes more important than "best" because it is just as necessary for an aim to be accomplished, but harder to envision. This miracle now feels directly connected to Jesus feeding thousands with little, moreso than it had for me before, based on them both being accounts of feeding others with food from an unexplained source. Now it feels almost like I can see Jesus reading of these same events, and seeing this same balance in the manna, and what the logic could be extrapolated into, in a very real and tangible way.

An analogy just came to mind: God can set one free at any time, free from the restraints of life, revealing that they can do anything (it feels like suddenly having no security). The issue is that "anything" is a very hard beast to ride. This is a lot like God beginning with remote control of a tightrope walker, and at some point releasing that control. If they have learned how to tightrope walk themselves, then they keep walking and it is great. If they have not, they fall catastrophically and immediately. I imagine that the issue is that no one has ever seen this handoff result in anything but a fall, and so fear colors the calculations in the moment, regarding precisely when to release. Perhaps the answer is not some big red button elsewhere, but realizing this scenario, being able to "see" this tightrope in dimensions that we do not walk in the waking world, and learning not only how to walk it, but how to sever control in the process.