From the Pastor's Pen

Dear friends,

I have to say last night’s debate left me feeling almost hung over this morning.  I woke up with a headache and found myself moving slowly though my morning routine.  The vitriolic nature of the political discourse last night discouraged me.  I’ve never seen anything like it and would be pleased to never see such discourse again.

So this morning as I opened the zoom meeting for Men’s Bible study… let’s just say I wasn’t sure I was up to the task.  What a pleasant surprise to discover that our study of the scriptures and thoughtful, respectful conversation that ensued was just what I needed.  How delightful to explore, discuss and learn from one another as we listened for God’s Word in the scripture.  God gave me my “daily bread” when I wasn’t looking for it.

We come today to the petition in the Lord’s prayer where we ask, “Give us this day our daily bread.”  Usually when I pray this part of the prayer, I pray it quite literally.  I like bread a lot.  I bake bread regularly and bake it well.  So when I prayer for daily bread, I’m usually thinking about all the ways I count on God to provide for the basic things we need like food, shelter, protection and love.

This morning, however, I was reminded of Jesus words to the devil who was tempting him to turn stones into bread after he had fasted in the desert for 40 days.  Jesus said, “One does not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  Matt 4:4.  (This is a quote, by the way, from Deuteronomy 8:3.)  This morning as I explored God’s Word with the men of the church, I had the real sense that God was feeding my soul with food that mattered both in the words of the scripture and the respectful, caring words of the men as we discussed together.

When we ask God to “Give us today our daily bread,” we trust that God knows what we need before we ask.  Sometimes God knows what we need before we know for ourselves.  I am grateful today for God’s abundance of gifts.

Peace,

Pr. Sally