dailydatewithgod

I remember many years ago when I taught seventh grade religion I gave my students the assignment of taking the words of the “Our Father” or “Lord’s Prayer” and  making it their own.  They were to look up what the words meant and then use words that made sense for them. I remember being struck by their creativity and it was also a refreshing opportunity for me to take a closer look at words that I had been saying since I was a kid.  I was particularly struck by the translation of “give us this day our daily bread”.  We took a closer look at the role of bread in Jewish culture at the time of Jesus and saw that it was the main source of sustenance.  They had bread at their main meal, they took great care in preparing bread.  There was also the history of the unleavened bread for passover.  Breaking of bread meant the sharing of love and hospitality.  It was seen as a nourishing expression of love.  As a recovering food addict bread was more about comfort and fullness and on some level about checking out.  I won’t spend the time here explaining how I abused such a substance but suffice it to say I never stopped and reflected on it as nourishing.  Yet, I used it to provide things that most normal food people would not think of it to provide (comfort, love, etc.)  So as I look at that prayer today I am grateful to say that I have replaced bread with my relationship with God–just as it says in the prayer.  It is my connection to the Great Creator that provides me the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical sustenance that I need.  God provides love and hospitality for his people.  God takes the time and the effort to prepare experiences of nourishment and growth for us. And the nourishment that God provides goes way beyond what bread can provide. To me the most important element is that God provides for today.  It is our daily bread with which he makes sure we are nourished.  The prayer says nothing in that prayer about tomorrow or yesterday.  I am asking God to give me exactly what spiritual, emotional, physical, mental nourishment I need, that he has already prepared with love today.  My prayer for you today is that you are able to identify one way that God is providing for your nourishment in exactly the way you need to be nourished this day.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

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