Sunday Meditation: Baking Bread and Reflecting on the Bread of Life

One of my sisters (I have five) has sourdough mania. (That's actually the name of a book.) She came for a visit and brought us a loaf of her sourdough bread, which we enjoyed - delicious and beautiful. She experiments with making all kinds of recipes with both the sourdough starter and the sourdough discard.

If you are like me, you never heard of sourdough discard and perhaps have never experimented with making sourdough bread, so let me explain. When you first make the starter, you simply combine unbleached flour and filtered water in equal parts. You add the same amount every twelve hours for seven days leaving the mixture covered with a napkin or towel in a warm place. (I put it in the oven with the light on.) Each time you add the flour and water, you mix vigorously to add air. The starter picks up natural yeast from the air and ferments. On day seven your starter should be bubbly, doubled in bulk, with a sour smell. You "discard" all but half a cup and continue adding more flour and water once a day.

Of course part of that "discard" will go into your first loaf of sourdough bread. The rest can be used in all kinds of interesting ways to make pancakes, muffins, even brownies. I am only on day four of my starter making, but I think I will add some of it to my next recipe using my bread machine.

Are you puzzled right now about why I am talking about sourdough bread for my Sunday "meditation?" You've no doubt read about the practice of the present moment. God is in every single moment of our lives. Connecting to Him in the present moment involves sacramentalizing those moments by letting whatever you are doing be a catalyst for making you aware of God's presence.

The other day I commented at the library to the two women manning the desk on the providential help of the Lord over a scheduling conflict I had. (I was relieving them for my shift as librarian.) "God isn't interested in that," one of the ladies said rather cynically. I laughed. "He has every hair on my head counted; of course He's interested." The other lady agreed. And just as He is interested in resolving my scheduling conflict, He is interested in my sourdough project.

Well and good, you may say; but how does making sourdough bread starter interest God? I'll explain. Remember when Jesus talked about yeast? He warned against the yeast of the pharisees, but He also talked about the woman who added yeast to her bread and urged His listeners to be good yeast. Do you think the women in crowd thought of that next time they made bread?

But there is an even deeper meaning. What is the sourdough starter made from? -- Flour and water, the same elements used to make the hosts for Holy Communion. You combine the ingredients for the sourdough starter and then wait to see an explosion of growth as the dough combines with yeast in the air. It reminds me that those who receive Communion with faith and devotion can also expect to see an explosion of growth in their faith, hope, and love as they receive an outpouring grace from the Holy Spirit.

It also takes great patience to make sourdough starter and bread. The starter takes at least seven days to become active. (What does that number remind you of?) Every day, one has to add more flour and water and watch for the bubbles to form that indicate things are happening. Isn't that the same with the spiritual life? Add frequent prayer and frequent Communion and wait patiently for the Holy Spirit to act within you, just like He did at Pentecost when tongues of fire (baking?) descended on the Apostles.

Not sourdough, but still offers food for thought.

And so, my new project will invite me to a deeper reflection on the spiritual life, the Eucharist, the practice of the present moment and the virtue of patience. And, of course, if I do it right we'll have a delicious loaf of bread to enjoy and share.

Reflecting back on the title of the book in the photo above, may we all have a "mania" for the spiritual life and work zealously to increase our knowledge, love, and awesome fear of the Lord. May every moment be spent in His holy presence!

If you're in Woodstock, stop for a sample of bread at Camp Kreitzer. I'll serve it with butter and honey from our bees and make some deviled eggs from our chickies for a lovely afternoon tea.