Bread for the journey

John 6: 30 - 35

Jesus said to the people, "I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever hunger. No one who believes in me will ever thirst"

Although the staple food in many parts of the world is not bread, it is a common enough metaphor that Jesus uses to describe something the nourishes, that sustains life. Our physical body does need some form of 'bread', every day, and Jesus tries to remind us that our spirit too needs a form of nourishment that only he can ultimately provide. As Christians, we are all aware of this. Unfortunately, we are often enticed by other forms of 'soul food' that is actually tempting but on the nutritional scale would be classified as 'junk food'.

As I listen to the journeys of people, I notice that often, the awareness of what is spiritually nutritious is present. People do admit to their need for more of the nourishment that Jesus speaks about. We are not unaware that the 'manna' the people in Jesus' time were hoping for has been surpassed by the 'bread from heaven', who is a person: Jesus himself. When we admit what we need but somehow do not get round to doing it, it is usually because other 'foods' have a greater hold on us. It is easier to let time slip by and attend to what seems 'urgent', rather than what is truly important. In the depths of our hearts, lies a desire to be fed by and to connect deeply with God. Our spirit will not be fully satisfied with 'junk food'. It only tempts us to search for more of the same.....and the spiritually unhealthy cycle is sustained. How then do we actually get ourselves to feed on Jesus, our bread?

In order to break this cycle, I find it helpful to pray: Lord, grow in me the desire to seek You, to abide in You, to know You". We will naturally seek out who/what we truly desire. However, we are often more aware of our superficial desires, whereas the deepest desire of our hearts, that is, deep communion with God is seldom conscious. We need to pray for the desire (of course if we honestly want it!), a prayer I believe God will willingly grant, for that is his desire for us too. Another way would be to take up a spiritual discipline of 'abstinence' for example, silence and solitude. Just as a physical fast from foods will make us aware of our hunger, so a fast of the spirit will bring to consciousness our deep spiritual hunger. Just half an hour of silence a day will reveal to us the gnawing hunger within, and also expose the clutter that has been feeding it...and hopefully.....in due time, we will be ready to receive the nourishment that Jesus himself is for us. Jesus is our bread for the journey. We are invited to keep coming to him, keep believing that his nourishment is what we truly need for the journey.