Today is bread baking day and I have ardor and passion for bread. After mise en place, the orderly task of setting all of the ingredients out, the mystery of bread can begin. Adding leaven, or yeast, to just three ingredients, flour, water and salt, creates a living dough that can grow and transform. The feel of it changes as the flour absorbs liquid and the gluten creates a weblike tapestry. Adding fire or heat transforms it further into an edible loaf of bread.
One day, I showed some friends how to bake and sent them home with some dough to nurture and bake for themselves. I received a frantic call later that evening. “Help, Anne! How do I stop the dough? It burst out of the bag and is flowing all over the counter!”
This reminds me of how God takes our faith, which begins as small as a mustard seed or yeast spore, and allows it to grow and grow more than we can imagine. Bread is so ordinary and necessary; full of mystery and sustenance. So is God.
Bread for the Journey 