PEEPHOLE INTO THE BIBLE
“Our Daily Bread”
Last week, our Bible study group focused on the Lord’s Prayer. Admitting that we were privileged and comfortable far beyond the experience of Jesus’ followers, we tried to imagine a world in which “Give us this day our daily bread” was a real plea for life’s basic necessities: working todaymeant eating tomorrow. The closest we could come was the past year’s struggle with the Covid-19 pandemic: empty shelves, social distancing, masks, quarantine, disputes over closures and lock-downs. Our church building has been closed, most activities and programs changed to virtual, with some even suspended, and contact with our sisters and brothers has been limited and somewhat risky. We worry helplessly about those whose distress is greater than ours. The difference is that prospects for relief were few in the first century, and things were likely to get worse rather than better. Today we have hope that our situation is temporary, that vaccines and government programs will restore our comforts. Our church building will reopen. We will again rejoice in contact with friends and family and enthusiastically share our abundance with the world. Jesus taught us to pray: “Give us this day our daily bread.” Perhaps we should pray instead: “Thank you for our daily bread.” Lyn Pickhover, Pray-er