Monday Moment: Bread and Roses

I had today's blog mapped out in my head. For this week's Monday Moment, I was going to hit on John 6... that part of the Gospels where Jesus so beautifully states that He is the bread of life, and He who comes to me will never go hungry (John 6:35). Such a beautiful analogy.

I was thinking of it because I baked bread yesterday afternoon, and as I kneaded I thought about all the things bread is. Bread is sustaining. It's nourishing. It's comforting. (A neighbor stopped by as I had a loaf cooling at the window and came in "just to sniff", she said. Even the smell was comforting.). To be exact, I was thinking of how we poke fun of having only "bread and water" in the house, but seriously... one loaf of homemade bread and a tall, cool pitcher of water and really, could you need anything besides? Bread is wonderful.

As I kneaded the dough I also thought of the things, besides bread, that I hunger for beyond basic physical needs: things like security. I hunger for security. For unconditional love. For someone to be proud of me. I hunger to matter.

So I was going to talk about all that: about how no matter what we hunger for - no matter how complicated and out-of-reach our contentment... our deep-seated longings seem - they really can all be identified and met in one place... the Bread of Life. And the invitation is there for anyone who's tired of fighting, ignoring, or feeding those vague, ever-changing cravings. He is the bread of life.

Yep, I was going to say some of that, and then I was going to quickly segue into how, upon looking out the study windows this morning, I noticed that all my carefully planted roses are gone. Vanished! Someone stole from the prayer garden. Where the darlings used to be are now five shallow holes... like empty graves. Someone came and dug up my roses. Either that, or the earth sucked them under in five precise, vortex movements. Or the dogs employed a shovel to neatly pile the dirt alongside each hole, carefully leaving all the sage untouched. The plants I labored over choosing, placing, planting, and feeding are gone. In a blink. Gone!

So suddenly I had a new blog... a Matthew 6 blog... that obviously took precedence over any bread message.

Or...

Hmm. On second thought, maybe not. Maybe they are the same. After all, whether we're talking about bread or roses, they're both temporary. Fleeting. Here last night, gone today. And someday, when we're facing the end of our lives, all the beautiful bread and roses we've enjoyed will be just that: an enjoyment that expired. A pleasure that came to an end. And then what will we have? We'll have memories, sure, but we'll still have that vague longing. In our advanced age, we'll still be looking. We'll still be hungry

Unless we look to the Bread of Life... the Rose of Sharon... whose message is unchanging and promise is eternal. Until we look there, and nowhere else, all the bread and all the roses - all our work and all our pleasure - will be futile... a chasing after the wind. (Ecclesiastes 2:11)

I'm not sure where this week finds you or what this week holds for any of us. But I do know this: at some point in the next seven days, we'll all be hungry. Physically, emotionally, spiritually... we'll need something. And our answer, my answer... your answer, it's the same...

Jesus declared, I am the bread of life.
He who comes to Me will never go hungry.
-John 6:35

Monday Moment is a little devotional read to help kick-start your week. Hope to see you here again next Monday!