Making Bread

      Have you ever seen or heard of so many people making their own bread? I find myself wondering if it's ever been so common in our homes since pioneer days? As far as I know there's been no shortage of bread, but what is it about these days of quarantine that make us want to go back to the old ways?

      Early on, the word "reset" kept coming to my mind: it seemed that thanks to the unusual world situation we were somehow having to rethink our priorities, figure out what is really essential. Suddenly going to restaurants and shopping for clothes or jewelry, treating ourselves to manicures, massages, and hair coloring, even gathering in houses of worship or schools, was deemed non-essential. Suddenly our lives became centered on our homes and families and simply taking care of ourselves. 

      I confess I've had a nearly three-year jump on this homebound, pared-down situation-- plenty of time to contemplate what's really essential. I've been reminded often of the refining we all go through during hardship of any personal nature. I've asked God constantly to reveal His purpose in my refining time. Perhaps it was for just "such a time as this," to help someone else endure the difficulty of isolation. I can only hope so.

      But what of this bread-making process attracts us? Yes, many of us have learned the basic steps of turning a fine dry powder and some liquid into something solid to sustain our bodies and even treat our tastebuds. Whatever shape or taste you desire for the end result, you must apply heat. And just the right amount of heat: too high or too low, too short or too long would ruin the finished product. But what about that powder? It doesn't come that way from nature! 

      I've observed from our farming neighbors just how painstaking the process is to grow wheat, from breaking up the soil, putting just the right amount of fertilizer on it, to spreading the seeds. And then you must WAIT for sun and rain and time to do their part. For winter wheat, which is what most breads are made of, it takes seven to eight MONTHS from planting to harvest! And then the wheat must be threshed (shaken off the stalk), and then separated from chaff (winnowed), and finally ground. Knowing all that, I'm truly amazed at how little I pay for a bag of flour!

      I'm wondering,then, if consciously or unconsciously, somehow all this bread making is one of our ways of slowing down to contemplate and perhaps appreciate the complexity of even the "simple" things, the necessities of our daily lives which we so often take for granted. Rest assured, my friend, God knows the exact amount of sunlight and rain, threshing and winnowing, grinding and even heat you need to become the perfect "loaf of bread" He designed you to be to feed someone else's soul!

          "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It's no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet."  (Matthew 5:13 CSB) 

          "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

          "For it was You Who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wondrously made."  (Psalm 139:13-14 CSB)

NOTE: I urge you to read Psalm 139 in its entirety, especially if you're feeling over-threshed, over-ground, and over-baked!

♰