Smell,
they say, is the most powerful of the senses.
Take the smell of newly-baked bread, for example; one whiff and I can be
transported to childhood, recalling with fondness my cycle ride to school, a
route that passed the baker’s shop.
Alternatively, I recall holidays in France, where it seems every tiny village awakes to the aroma coming from the boulangerie.
At
harvest time (if we’re quick enough before the fields are ploughed for a new
season’s crop), the rough spiky landscape of the stubble provides a stark
reminder of the valuable corn that has been carefully gathered for processing
into flour. Harvest is thus a good time
to meditate on bread, so let’s look a little closer at this simple blend of
flour, water and yeast. Its great
variety comes from the type of flour, the proportions and mixture of the
ingredients, and the addition of salt and other minor items according to
taste. Therein lies the skill of the
master baker – though let’s not forget the importance of taking it out of the
oven at the right time!
Bread
is a reflection of our very selves. The
flour, the basic ingredient, can be compared to our bodies, which come in a
wide range of sizes, shapes and colours.
To the flour is added some liquid: again, quite a variety is available
just as people in different cultures enjoy many different foods. Without yeast, however, such a mixture would
be little better than a stodgy paste, and we might compare the working of the
yeast to the vibrant entry of God’s Holy Spirit into our lives.
Finally
comes the kneading and baking. Both are
critical, for the loaves may finish up crusty or only lightly browned, heavy
and barely digestible or light and fluffy, according to the time, skill and
effort of the baker. And
isn’t this just the effect our passage through this world can have on us? Too much care and protection as we grow up
might make us unable to cope with life later on; too little and we may perish
in our ignorance of any number of life’s perils.
From
the blessing of Abram by Melchizedek (Gen. 14:18) to Paul’s instruction to the
idle busybodies of Thessalonika to settle down and earn the bread they eat
(2Thess. 3:8-12), bread is a constant point of reference in the Bible. Whether in terms of loaves or as a metaphor
for the stuff of life itself, we simply can’t get away from it. So, next time you tuck into a roll or a
sandwich – and I’m sure it won’t be long – remember that Jesus told the crowds,
‘I am the bread of life’ (John 6:35) ... and enjoy it all the more for that!
