For the Life of the World

May 4, 2020

Scripture

Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, …. it is my Father who gives you the true bread from . For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”   (John 6:33 NRSV)

For the Life of the World

“Yeast is the new gold” chuckled the manager of a nearby farmer’s market when I called last week to ask about availability of yeast and flour. They had it and I made a socially distanced foray to their parking lot to do a pickup. It was like doing a drug deal with the scarcity of items so normally accessible.

Yet while we are confined to quarters, lots of bread is being baked – from humble and simple to complex and artisanal. It’s the stuff of life for just about all cultures. Nutrition, beauty and flavour all combine in a baked item.

On my drive to the farm market I thought about how marvellously simple and yet profoundly mysterious is the way Jesus described himself as bread from heaven that gives life to the world. Anyone can understand and mostly anyone can partake (gluten-free options available).

In all of our various traditions as followers of Jesus, bread is both symbol and source of food for the journey. When we break a piece of bread at dinner tonight it can remind us of his broken body. When we eat the bread, it can remind us that our emotional and spiritual lives depend on more than just bread, we need Him.

For many the fact that we can’t receive the bread in a public worship setting is a deep loss. But we can be reminded of those special moments by our own sacred experiences in our homes and around our tables.

A Prayer for Today

God of love and mercy, you remind us to ask for our daily bread. Many of us have it in abundance but we are struggling with restrictions and confinement. Give us eyes to see and souls that are creatively free to see you and remember you in the simplest loaf around our humble tables …. For Jesus’ sake