Pastor Nancy's Reflections

Pastor Kim’s fine sermon this past Sunday on the subject of Jesus as the Bread of Life led me to thinking about the wide varieties of bread that God provides for the physical nourishment of Gods children the world over. Every culture has some form of grain as the basis of peoples’ diet. Pastor Kim spoke about the richness of Jewish Rye and the unusual way of making bread in Iceland. Think about the many kinds of bread there are around the world. In addition to the rye, wheat and pumpernickel bread so basic to our diets here in North America, there is naan, tortillas, cornbread, croissants, biscuits, muffins, soda bread, crumpets, … Not to mention the wide varieties of grains that serve the same purpose in different cultures: rice, flax, kasha, barley, oats, and quinoa. This certainly is not anywhere near a complete list of the multitude of forms this basic part of human food has across the world. God provides the form of this essential meal in types that are suitable to the farming environment wherever people live.

Amazingly it is this most basic, ordinary element that Jesus chose to symbolize the sacrifice of his body that continues over the centuries to bring grace and healing to us! As bread/grain nourishes us and gives us life, the communion bread nourishes and gives life to our spirits. 

The subject of God’s provision of physical and spiritual bread reminded me of an old poem that I had to dig deep into my files to find. I share it with you here:

                              “Bakerwoman God” by Alla Bozarth

Bakerwoman God,

I am your living bread.

Strong, brown Bakerwoman God

I am your low, soft, and being-shaped loaf.

I am your rising bread,

Well-kneaded by some divine

And knotty pair of knuckles,

By your warm earth hands.

I am bread well-kneaded.

Put me in fire, Bakerwoman God,

Put me in your own bright fire.

I am warm, warm as you from fire.

I am white and gold, soft and hard,

Brown and round.

Break me Bakerwoman God.

I am broken under your caring Word.

Drop me in your special juice in pieces.

Drop me in your blood

Drunken me in the great red flood.

Self-giving chalice swallow me.

My skin shines in the divine wine.

My face is cup-covered and I drown

I fall up

In a red pool

In a gold world

Where your warm

Sunskin hand

Is there to catch

And hold me

Bakerwoman God,

Remake me.

Little wonder that Jesus chose this basic stuff of life to represent to his followers his own body which he gave to all of us to heal us and give us life.

Blessings,

Pastor Nancy Becker

Parish Associate