“Give Us This Day, Our Daily Bread”
The following is the sixth of twelve monthly reflections about the phrases of the “Lord’s Prayer” and what they tell us about family life.
The
summer after my first year of college, I traveled to Denver, Colorado to
participate in a summer of service at a homeless shelter there called Samaritan
House. During my first several days, we
were still determining what my responsibilities would be when the chaplain made
an important suggestion to me. “Go and
eat lunch with the residents. Just eat
with them, and listen to their stories.”
It turned out to be the source of my most memorable moments during my
time there, and it gave me new perspective on people’s struggles, longings, and
fears. More significant than the bread
we ate together was the true longing for daily bread these people experienced
each day as they sought a better life.
Sometimes, I
would be so overwhelmed with the weight of people’s lives and stories that I
would have to go to the chapel right after lunch to process what I had
heard. I had prayed the Lord’s Prayer my
whole life, always requesting my “daily bread” but not often pausing to
consider what that was or what I was taking for granted. I had too seldom pondered that my parents
still faithfully married to each other, my house intact and in good working
order, my next meal never a question, my freedom to worship God, and a host of
other graced realities were gifts from God and not something that everyone
had. I soon came to realize that calling
this daily bread really was not enough; rather, it was more like a daily buffet
of choice and bountiful blessings.
Of
course, it sometimes takes encountering someone who lacks what we have or
losing something ourselves before we understand just how much of our daily
bread was provided. We also get
distracted at times about what our essential daily bread is. Instead of closeness to God, peace in our
homes, or deep and meaningful relationships, we may focus on things like our
houses not always being spotless or our promotions and raises do not coming as
readily as we had hoped. We sometimes
fail to take in the songbirds in the morning light or the gentle touch of a
loving hand, the unbridled laughter of a child at play or the constant prayers
from a loved one during a tying time.
These, among many other things, are the ways in which God showers us
with manna from heaven.
All
this now prompts me to take a bit more time as I ask the Lord for my daily
bread in prayer, knowing that God already knows all that I will need that day. For a young man serving the homeless for the
first time, my daily bread became the stories the people shared with me over
lunch. Whatever we find ourselves
seeking from God, it is always essential to remember that it is bread for the
journey to sustain us on our way toward the eternal feast of heaven.
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