DAILY BREAD

I can’t help but notice that a lot of things have been changing over the years – you too? But then again I know that not everything was better in the good ol’ days either. What are we to do with that?

In an effort to adjust, to understand and to adapt to my constantly advancing age threshold....

I can’t help but notice a few things

The book I have just finished reading about a family that emigrated from Norway to the prairies of northern USA really stirred me. They worked so hard and barely had the necessities of life. They scraped sod off their own land to fashion into a shelter; drew their water from a river and had to sieve it to make it drinkable; shot or trapped or fished for their meat; and were ecstatic when dandelions appeared in the spring, so starved were they for fresh food.  The latter really resonated with me because I remember my mom saying that her mother would take a washpan outside and place over an emerging clump of dandelions to act like a hothouse so they’d be edible as soon as possible.

Then I went shopping at my local megamart! where we are spoiled for choice every which way! and have huge carts to easily push our selections around in!!

Women like my grandmother who emigrated from Sweden would not have been able to conceive of the abundance on offer! 
But I ask you, do we really need wasabi ginger potato chips? Or an entire aisle of different flavours of carbonated sugary water? Or umpteen flavours of instant rice? Recently I noticed “Finishing Butter” in the dairy case!  Some oil/butter in various flavours prepared for instant use.  Really??!!  And yogurt varieties... well, you know...

Back to my attempt to understand and adapt ...  I enjoy a bag of flavoured chips and happen to prefer coconut yogurt but I never walk through the grocery store without feeling vaguely guilty of being part of the superfluency seen there. 

I ponder as I wander down the grocery aisles....

I'm sure it's a great convenience for many people but in general I tend to feel insulted that "they" seem to think that “we” can't add a few spices to vary food flavours so need to buy it ready done (back to "Finishing Butter"!)  And it’s all so easy --- directions say just add water and stir.... pop the container in the microwave.... turn out onto a platter and serve… Seems to me we are all turning into spoiled children – no, spoiled adults - who are always grasping for more and more choices with less and less effort. The marketing of new prepackaged foods and new combinations is absolutely invasive!  Have you noticed that plain ol' anything is relegated to the bottom shelf and there's very little of it?!  Oops – that’s coming pretty close to a grumble. It is my goal to observe as a student of sociology rather than as a grumpy senior citizen!

We know we are welcome to ask God for our daily bread but I can't help thinking that in our wealthy First World society we have come to expect a tad more than that. When we push our heavily laden buggy past the cashier and the total on the bottom of the till tape makes us cringe, how often do we presumptuously ask God for a higher income?  

I’m not saying I’m going to limit myself to eating dandelions from my lawn or haul and strain river water for drinking, but what am I to take away from these reflections, from what I’ve noticed?  Having noticed, I can’t ignore it!

I guess what I'm saying is, at the very least, we must never forget to be grateful rather than presume entitlement.  Not just in comparison to the pioneers of the past but also in comparison to so many women around our own communities and the world who even today are barely eeking out the basics of life. 

I am reminded not to put confidence in the heavily laden shelves in the grocery store and the purchasing power in my wallet but in the One who blesses us. His abundance provides food for the soul as well as the body.

I am reminded to give as generously as possible to those around the world who are less financially blessed than myself.

And I’m reminded to pray that they would come to know the One who blesses with food for the soul.

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.  (1Tim6)

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.   Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.   And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2Cor 9)