The Israelites are angry and quarrelsome. They imagine–irrationally?–that they might have been better off staying in slavery in Egypt. Freedom can be such a pain….

In frustration, Moses and Aaron “fall on their faces” before divine authority, seeking relief for their suffering people. And relief comes, in the form of life-giving water from out of stone.

Oh, that today we would be baptized by waters of Meribah.