Day 8 In the Wilderness- Bread for the Journey

"Give us this day our daily bread"
This line in the Lord's Prayer is crucial for our journey in the wilderness. When we read about Jesus' journey and his ability to fast for 40 days and to resist the temptation "If you are the Son of God, then turn these stones into bread", we are profoundly aware that we cannot do this. We cannot exist without food for 40 days so as we go on our wilderness journey we will need bread for the journey.

When we were travelling with our family in Germany, eating was a special time of getting warm (it was cold in Germany in February), of getting fed (we worked up an appetite going through castles and cathedrals) and getting acquainted with the local people and customs. We met more people in our eating time than any other time so that the journey was not so strange. We met the waitress in Worms, who directed us to the Martin Luther museum. We met the owner of a ma and pa restaurant near Stuart and Megan's village who held Evan while we got ready to leave. We had time with our grandchildren getting to know them better. Every meal was a time of fellowship and fun. One day we even decided that it would be fun to eat each meal in a different country so we had breakfast in Trier, Germany; lunch in Luxenburg; and dinner in a Patissserie in Thionsville, France.

So it is with the community of faith in our wilderness time together. The Men's Second Chance Valentine Dinner and the Women's Salad Supper were both opportunities to enjoy fellowship in the midst of Lent. The Wednesday Night suppers are a great time for the extended family of faith to gather and be nurtured as we share birthdays and anniversaries together. And our communion meals on the first Sunday of each month in morning worship and the fourth Sunday at the evening Taize worship services are opportunities to gather around the Lord's Table and to be fed by our Savior Jesus Christ. And then our Food Cupboard and Lord's Diner outreach become places where we share that meal and the bread of God with others. I thank God this Lent for opportunites to feed others, to be fed and to gather as the community of faith around the bread of Christ.