Greed, Fines, & the Bread of Life

 

                                                                   Kennedy Paisz

With the bread we need for today, feed us.

In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever.
Amen.

New Zealand Prayer Book -- Lord's Prayer paraphrase 

Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 

They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

John 6:32-35 NRSV

Hear this, you who trample on the needy,
    and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
5 saying, “When will the new moon be over
    so that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath,
    so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah smaller and the shekel heavier
    and practice deceit with false balances,
6 buying the poor for silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals
    and selling the sweepings of the wheat.”

Amos 8: 4-6 NRSVue

A few months ago I shared with you that Ruth was invited to do a bread-making session with Sunday School kids at Trenton United and it was a big success. There were 15 children of all ages and they loved the whole process, as did the adults who helped out. Ruth brought the rising loaves home, baked them, and then brought the bread back the next week for communion. She had baked small loaves in advance so each child went home with a loaf. 

I've been thinking about bread for two reasons in recent days. I heard a piece about the perils of highly processed foods, including the quasi-bread which is often on store shelves. Rather than the traditional grains to make flour, which rises and is then baked, mass-produced bread is more of a flour slurry with lots of sugar. 

We've also heard that Canada Bread was fined $50 million for price-fixing, deceitfully driving up the cost for a product which is supposed a staple in our diet. It was a matter of greed on the part of lots of participants, but what's new when it comes to food prices? The fingers seem to be on the scales even in the worst of times. 

The connection between physical hunger and satisfying spiritual hunger has always been strong in our Judeo/Christian tradition, as you can see in the passages above. 

Since the Canada Bread fine there have been questions about where this money will go, and some suggest that it should be distributed amongst food banks and other providers of support for the marginalized. Why not? It would be a drop in the bucket of the federal coffers but would do a lot of good in these programs and ministries.

I'll give another shout-out to Cob's Bakery in Belleville which provides bread products to various charitable groups in the city. We do a pick-up once a month, early on Saturday mornings, and we are so impressed by the generosity and goodwill of the owner and staff.