“Recently, I watched a lady scoot across the worship room and sit down next to a friend. Without even a ‘hello’ or ‘how you doin’, she was telling her about her sourdough escapades from the previous week. It was inspiring because of the enthusiasm these two ladies exuded. It was palatable. Pardon the pun.
I decided it was time and I joined the ‘sourdough community’. At first, it may seem easy, but it is definitely not for the faint of heart because of the time involved, and one rarely has immediate success. Those first few loaves we try to call ‘bread’ are more along the lines of a doorstopper. Even though I have finally had ‘success’, I still find myself biting my nails on bread-baking day.
What does this have to do with a spiritual word or message? Please let me briefly explain the process of making sourdough bread and how God used these times as a reminder of His love, care, and guidance throughout my life.
One has to have sourdough ‘starter’ – a journey in and of itself. It took me about 4 weeks to get a decent starter. I had to feed the starter in the morning and in the evening, making sure to discard some of the mixture so I wouldn’t end up with gallons of starter. After adding water and flour, it is left to ‘rest’. Each morning and evening, discard and feed the starter with water and flour. This takes weeks until it’s ready for your first try at bread. It is interesting to note the older the starter, the more flavorful it becomes, making a tastier bread.
Although physically not standing in front of your dough for hours on end, it becomes your world for probably a day and a half. After making the dough, one needs to let it rest for an hour. Then, during the next 2 hours, it needs attention where you stretch and pull the dough. The stretching and the pulling increases the strength of the dough and is done at 30-minute intervals. After the stretch and fold process, the starter does all the work and the dough increases in size. Once doubled, it’s time to shape and put it into bread pans. There’s stretching and tugging, pushing and pulling, putting tension on the dough making it stronger…shaping and pulling, taking care to work out bubbles that may be in the dough. There’s a rest again for the dough to rise before baking. It’s baked covered for a time, after which the cover is lifted for the final baking time.
As I was feeding the starter morning and night, I could not help but see a picture of morning and evening prayer. The simple act of feeding the starter reminded me of the sweetness of the first moments of the day spent in prayer, which can awaken our hearts, align our thoughts, and connect with Someone greater than ourselves. And as our day comes to a close, it can be a time when we put the events of the day behind us, expressing gratitude for the blessings we received, seeking forgiveness for our failures, and finding comfort in God’s presence.
Early on in my sourdough journey, I was amazed how water and flour could produce such an amazing gift – bread – and I have been reminded many times what ‘bread’ is to a believer. In the Bible, bread is a picture of fellowship, God’s care, but most profoundly Jesus Christ as the “Bread of Life.”
While making bread, I found a perfect metaphor for how God’s Holy Spirit works in our lives. I love the idea of the stretching and the pulling and the tugging… The idea of the dough rising… Knowing I play a part in the process, but truthfully, it’s all of that sourdough starter doing the work. And just in our lives, it’s the Holy Spirit doing the work. I have found myself, while preparing dough in the stretching and pulling, thinking about God’s Word, His Spirit, His presence giving me strength as He tugs at me and removes all that needs to be eliminated – the Refiner’s fire doing the work needed for my journey. But also strengthening my faith to a greater trust in God – beyond a comfort zone, or fears, or limitations.
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)
I’ll never forget the first time I was asked… Will you share some of your starter with me? I found myself in tears as I considered: “Oh my friend….Of course I will. But will you let me share with you the real STARTER, the real BREAD OF LIFE?”
Bonappetite!
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