Mmm…fresh baked bread, is there anything more appetizing or appealing?
I have recently rediscovered the joy of making bread. Making bread is a deceptively simple thing, but it is a thing that requires practice and a learned rhythm to get it right. There’s something about the rhythm of the process that speaks to me and it becomes a sort of meditation that centres me.
Gathering everything together, measuring, pouring, kneading, etc…it all soothes me and also speaks to me. I am one of those people who tend to see or learn lessons through the mundane or the every day and making bread is no different.
One morning as I was in the process of making a batch of bread, I thought about the process and it bounced around in my head along with some words from past sermons and it came to me that it is quite like learning the rhythm of spending time with God. All the ingredients are the bits and pieces that make up our Christian walk: bible reading, prayer, devotions, worship, and whatever else you want to throw in there. The sometimes difficult part is trying to incorporate it all into the rhythm of our lives, and to do so consistently (can I get an amen?).
The same goes for incorporating bible reading, prayer, and worship into your life. It takes practice and consistency to be able to smoothly incorporate it all into the rhythm of life.
I mentioned that making bread requires practice to get it right, from the water temperature for the yeast, to recognizing when you have kneaded enough flour into the dough. The process of kneading not only helps to incorporate all the ingredients but if you work the dough correctly and sufficiently you end up with something that is smooth and elastic, not sticky. It’s this elasticity that makes for those lovely high domed loaves that are so appealing.
The same goes for incorporating bible reading, prayer, and worship into your life. It takes practice and consistency to be able to smoothly incorporate it all into the rhythm of life. Once the rhythm and the knowledge of the process becomes familiar, the difficult times become somewhat easier to bear because the knowledge of who God is and who you are in Him come bubbling to the top and you are that elastic dough that rises and stretches and doesn’t burst or fall. Then, once the “heat” has passed, you are a pleasing aroma to those around you and you have become food for those around you.
So, my friend, are you willing to join me in learning the rhythm of incorporating God into your every day, to learn the unforced rhythms of grace and become a pleasing aroma to the family, friends and community around you? Together we can change things, one loaf of bread at a time.
MICHELE HENTER
