Blessed Bread By James A. Langley

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“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’”

Blessed Bread
By James A. Langley, Exec. Dir. Emeritus, District of Columbia Baptist Convention, Washington, DC

”Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11

A grain of wheat falls in the ground
Without fanfare, struggle or sound,
Close-joined, its tomb and womb is earth,
There it dies, and there given birth.

Gift of the soil and sun, nourished
By snows and rain, it has flourished
By multiple labors unhailed;
Our lives depend that they not fail.

Take not common bread for granted,
Lest presumption should be planted,
Knowing dependence for the least
Shows the way to God’s greater feast.

Ask not for your bread for this day,
Breaking the bonds God has in play,
The Giver of bread, sans fable,
Should preside at the world’s table.

Staff of life from the Creation,
Daily we raise supplication
That it be granted mutually
For us and all humanity.

Bread from God’s good earth holds promise
For all God’s children; first premise
Of faith---blest to be a blessing,
Living love by deeds confessing.

Will they believe in Providence
If, starving, find no sustenance?
To the hungry without a crust,
Ev’n Bread of Heaven may seem dust.

Intercessors confront a need
With prayer, but more; they will feed
The hungry, care for the hurting,
Widows, orphans, not deserting.

Updated Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Divine gift for life—blessed bread!
Our God wants all his children fed;
Why then are many weak and dying,
When bread shared is death-defying?

Children’s bloated bellies, their eyes
Glazed and vacant; before one dies,
Too weak to stand on spindly legs,
With mouth agape a morsel begs.

Crying until the tears run dry,
No bread or consolation nigh;
Agony’s abyss, written deep,
Help begins when with them we weep.

But will the love we claim languish
While children slowly die in anguish?
We must pray to be forgiven
If to feed them we’ve not striven.

If they survive in weakened state
They face a no less cruel fate,
Already prey to disease and pain,
Hunger also cripples the brain.

Advocate for the voiceless poor,
And let your voice rise to ensure
That the selfish do not prevail
Against aid they seek to derail.

Stress need to high and low places,
Stir the nation to its graces,
Aid more aligned with our great wealth,
Bringing many to hope and health.

When before our Maker we stand,
Answers God will surely demand—
At the Last Judgment, it is said,
Did you love, did you share your bread?

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