“We are the seeds of the community that is and is to come.” This quote comes from Joy Crawford and we were introduced to it during our Breadmaking Activity. It seemed to sum up how the day went today and where our group is at this point. We began the activity with the most logical step, making dough. Suzanne Vinson led us in this process. Before today, I found this process about as holy as taking out the trash. So it was pretty much just a chore and not meaningful at all. But I think I speak for the group in saying that preparing dough is now both holy and unifying. Now to try and explain what caused the transformation.
We started off with worshipful mediation, a time to share gifts that we personally possess, lighting of the candles, and a scripture verse. Finding myself in a restful yet spiritual state, we divided into three groups and were given the ingredients for the dough. In doing this, we all brought what we had to the table and joined them together to create something new. This connects deeper with many areas in our lives, but specifically that of our community here at PBB and the church we know we have come to be. Later in the day, we came back to the Breadmaking Activity for the time to bake. Once again, through bringing all that we are as individuals, we produced something new. We shaped the dough, prepared it for the oven, and placed it in for baking, It was not until our group time at the end of the night that we saw the final product and ate it. Although we split into three separate groups at this time, I knew we were all eating the bread at the same time. In this moment, God was very present to me because I was able to see how we as a community truly created something great, something new, something pure.
To me, bread is often used in scripture as a symbol of life and love. So while making and eating it, I felt a connection with the scriptures. Every person here comes from a different background and experiences as we have definitely come to see. But with God’s strength, love, mercy, and guidance, we unify in our diversity. We are strong seeds in our community with God in the space in between us. Together with our differences united, we represent what our greater communities (the Church) can be. Because I say so. So, friends and families at home, when we all return and are baking an unusual amount of bread, be reminded that to us it repesents our community with God in the inbetween. And may God show this to you in your communities as well.
