Today's bread is Buckwheat Molasses. I can't help but feel like buckwheat has a little cowgirl kick, with a deep molasses sweet to smooth out the rough edges. The yeast literally gave a giddy-up when mixed with the molasses and I hope these musings sprinkle a little skip in your step ... at least spiritually speaking.
We have a mission, if you choose to accept it.
Bake bread yes, but there's more....
Is that a yes?
This idea sparked for me while sharing a meal with friends. I'm a huge food sharer; so much so that I sometimes have to remind myself that new folks don't necessarily enjoy me shoving a fork full of my food in their face exclaiming "this is delicious, you HAVE to try it." It also works in reverse - I often find my fork creeping over to other's plates just wanting a little taste of their yummy dish. The looks of judgement are usually enough to plateside my fork. Apparently these are not common manners.
But what if they were?
At this dinner we shared a bottle of wine, conversation, and I noticed, freely roving forks. It was free-range dining with full respect of other's plate space, with a mutual invitation to share your own. The art of food sharing is not to consume everything, but rather to have a little taste of what surrounds you while respecting that not everything belongs to you. In this sense you don't feel deprived or gorge yourself, yet you have a full symphony of flavors. It's an abundant table, shared in proportion that is satisfying. The etiquette rules of "pass the serving plate" are thrown out the window and forks go wild! It's a civilized feasting wilderness and all are as happy as a well fed kitten, licking our paws and purring in delight.
We do in fact live in this world and we sit at this sharing table - we only have to live by these "new rules." We know there is enough food, love, and friendship for everyone, if we respectfully recklessly share. We boldly break these rules because we delight in this type of sharing, and we know in our cores Christ did too! He may not be the first meal time rule breaker, but he certainly connected the apron strings of food and faith in a way that was abundant generosity, and some really good eats! He sat at our feasting table with folks who hadn't had meal time conversation in ages. Sharing a plate with people who had dirty fingernails was only the beginning of his party lineup. He was a show-er, rather than a teller, and he showed us that the table is everywhere, everyone is invited (even those law makers and rule breakers that make us uncomfortable), and when you share, there's enough to eat, and you get to try some really amazing things! You also hear fabulous stories. You also discover deep relationships, with others, with yourself, with God.
Christians are deep in the throws of Lent, a holy season commonly referred to as the "giving up" time. Now, I'm not mocking the ways giving up candy can be a spiritual discipline (that would be a HUGE discipline for me); but as Jesus showed, sharing isn't a sacrifice. Giving isn't about losing things, but rising as a collective loaf of good bread. We can only share with others, and we can only rise to our greatest potential by working together. This holy season is typically not filled with feasting tables and free-range sharing, but rather a sense of deprivation and spirits as dry and dead as the ashes we spread across our foreheads on Ash Wednesday. When asked to sacrifice, we inherently grab for "mine." When asked to give, we secretly hoard - which I think is missing the point of the ashes and Lent. This type of logic pits us against one another, squabbling for a seat at the table, rather than passing the bread basket.
So, what if we subtract sacrifice (as Christ did), and add generosity to the mix?
Lent - Sacrifice + Generosity = Joyful feasting for all!
In a season of inner reflection and deep prayer, try replacing sacrifice with share.
God calls us to sacrifice share
Sharing sweeps sacrifice off the table. With a cleared setting, and new dining rules, we together cook up a new creation! You now get to invite others to this feast, as well as enjoying it yourself. Like sharing our plates, when we share a moment with others, we get a small taste of something new and different. When respecting the plate of others, while freely sharing you own, you discover a feast of deepening connection with all things holy - food, friends, fields, & faith. Yes, you sometimes end up with something spilled down your shirt ... this type of living is messy; but it's also delicious! As ashes remind us we're all comprised of the same "stuff," generosity reminds us that this stuff is good. We are good, the world is good, and it's all meant to be shared in free-range friendships.
Operation Generosity: Our mission is to implement these new "rules" at our world table. It begins with you. Try adding generosity in your prayers, your thoughts, and see if anything happens. I know you all are already very generous people, so I wonder if we might be generous to our spirit and see how God's sharing can nourish us. And then as that yeasty spirit rises in us, expand that table and share with someone else. How can you see a new person "sitting" beside you & how can others "feed" you?
I want to hear about your experiments. I'm sharing this bread when I visit friends, but what are your ideas? Post your sharings so we all can feast alongside you.
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