Daily Bread

I felt bored, though I had lots to do. I was cranky, and I wasn’t sure why. Something, I knew not what, was calling me into the world, I knew not where. I rose from my sofa, prepared myself, and headed out. I drove for an hour, maybe two in total, considering the roundtrip. I passed the highway entrance ramp, turned onto side streets instead, and discovered routes I hadn’t known before. I headed for no place in particular.

A balding and bespectacled man in a sandstone Sonata in the lane beside mine be-bopped at a red light. I scanned through the stations on my own stereo searching for what he was listening to. I wanted to feel his joy. I noticed an arrow-shaped sign on a utility pole advertising “Cheap Massages” at a school of natural health. I stopped in for one, but was unimpressed. I discovered a state park situated on the bank of a small river and turned in to sniff the pines. My drive to nowhere brought me, at last, to a chain bookstore. There, I spent several hours.

I perused the memoir section and envisioned a layout for my own. I overheard a senior woman on her cell phone making dinner plans. I observed a young mother teaching her children to respect one another. “Don’t grab the bag of chips from her like that. Ask her if you can have one, and I’m sure she will share,” she told her son. “If you need help carrying those books, just ask your big brother if he’ll take some,” to her little daughter. I wrote in the lined tablet I consistently carry with me. I contemplated what my next career move should be. I prayed for guidance. I kept dry from the sudden rainstorm. I almost hugged the vinyl record display. I felt hungry and headed for the in-house café.

The ham and Gouda looked appetizing, but I was concerned about the freshness of the bread that sandwiched them. “Our bread is delivered daily,” the vendor assured me. Hmmm, mine too, I realized. Give us this day our daily bread.

Daily bread. If I were given the whole loaf today, it would grow stale and moldy. It is best to receive my bread on an as-needed basis.

Daily bread. For today, I have enough. I know not what tomorrow will bring, where I will be led, what I will be given to do. I don’t need to know that today. I will know daily.

Daily bread. I was lonely when I left home this morning. I thought I wanted company. I thought I wanted to talk. God knew that, for today, I needed down time, free time, and solitariness. If I had needed another with me, or conversation, or scheduled activity, it would have been given me, but it was not. My daily bread, whatever that may be, is specially baked and provided for me every day, as it was today.

Be enlightened!  ~ M