Bread

As president of the Board of Badger Prairie Needs Network in Verona, we spend a lot of time talking about bread.  Where to get it, how to store it, when to give it out. And it is not only bread that is of concern for us, it is all food needed to sustain life.  And because an estimated 72 billion pounds of food is wasted annually in the United States, we recently launched Kitchen to Table, a food recovery network which includes Epic Corporation and UW Hospitals.  This initiative not only reduces landfill waste but also helps give bread and nourishment to those who are food insecure. In so doing we are being better stewards of this planet, and responsible members of this community. 

There is, however, another kind of hunger we know as human beings.  We hunger for community, meaning and purpose for our life, friendship, and ultimately love.  

When Martin Luther talks about daily bread, he talks about all that is necessary for a life well lived.  God seeks to feed us, body and soul, so that we not only survive but flourish. This bread is a gift, and it is for everyone. 

Gracious God, help us to receive the bread you give us with joy, and share joyfully with one another.   Amen.

Rev. Kurt Billings, St James Lutheran Church, Verona, WI

He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 8:3