Monday Morning Manna: Manna or Mania?

I had been writing this Monday Morning Manna for more than a decade but had never heard this particular mispronunciation. In commenting on my writing, people often pause, trying to remember what it is called. “I appreciate your Monday Morning . . . thing” they will say, or “I read your Monday . . . stuff.” But this sweet lady was so sincere, when she said, “I love your Monday Morning . . . Mania.” What a difference a few letters make. Wikipedia says, “Manna is an edible substance which, according to the Bible, God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert during the forty-year period following the Exodus and prior to the conquest of Canaan.” Every Monday morning, “Dr. Dan’s . . . Manna” is a one paragraph spiritual jump-start for the week – spiritual food to hopefully help get one through the week. But what about “mania”? Wikipedia describes mania as a “maniac-like syndrome.” According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a maniac is a “mad man, a lunatic,” but it is also “a person characterized by an inordinate or ungovernable enthusiasm for something.” That’s me! At least I possess the ability to laugh at myself, and I laughed at the idea of my “Manna” being called “Mania,” especially since I could be described as having an “inordinate or unforgivable enthusiasm for something!” The Psalmist said of God, “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh” (Psalm 2:4). I can just picture God having a good belly laugh at the idea of me being likened to a maniac. O well, have a good week and enjoy a laugh at the expense of a mania-like maniac, manna writer.

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford.