Sometimes we spend an awful lot of time and effort trying so hard to listen to what God is trying to tell us that it can overcomplicate things and you miss it. Like a road sign flying by while driving down the hiway, warning us to take the next turn or that there is a rough road ahead. If you are paying attention to everything except the messages, you tend to miss the good things. Like “Last stop for Pie for next 100 Miles”
Then there are those messages you receive and end up holding on to but you are not entirely sure why. Or even if they are from God. What could it mean? Am I doing something I’m not even really aware of? Am I imagining meaning where there might not be any? Just what in the heck are You trying to tell me anyway? Can’t you just say it straight for a change? You may just hang on to that message for a while, hoping that someday it will click for you. Sometimes it may just fade into the background of your life, forgotten and unused.
I find myself in one of those situations currently. I had a dream recently that left me with a message written on my heart. Something I don’t think I fully understand. I’m not even sure that I can attribute it to a message given to me by God. It just has stamped me with a question mark as I try to grapple with it. I’ve noticed that when these things happen to me, it’s been fruitful to talk about them. It may end up being something meant for someone else after all. And if its from God, then sharing it is the right thing to do. It may mean something to me, something different to another, and nothing at all to everyone else. Can’t hurt to share it.
In my dream, a group of us were hiding from oppressors. We were similar to religious dissidents being hunted for our faith and just waiting to be discovered by the executioners. I don’t remember the full circumstances that led us to that point, but as we were hiding in a small building, we uncovered a Bible. I opened it randomly to the center of the pages. For some reason, in this Bible, the center of the book was Exodus. And in the middle of the page was a phrase in Latin. Translated it read:
With bread, one and one
Without bread, one by one
That’s the message I woke up with and what has stuck with me ever since. I’ve looked and searched for any existing text that matches this, and nothing quite the same is out there from what i can tell. I even tried to translate it to Latin to see if it landed solid enough to translate back the same. It doesn’t. So what does it mean? What’s the takeaway here? Is it just related to too much protein before bed?
After looking at it for a while and thinking about it, this is what I would interpret it to mean. When we have community, we break bread with each other. We see each other face to face. We connect to each other in intimate and personal ways that maybe are not fully understood in our digital world anymore. Maybe we didn’t give our personal relationships and the unseen connections we make with each other when we are face to face loving our neighbor. I have always felt that our spirits connect differently face to face as well. We may not see it but there must be a spiritual connection there that we can’t quantify or replicate mechanically. And with that in mind, when we break bread with each other, then when we live our lives and side by side, we are connected and not alone. Not weak or deserted. Strong and filled with love.
When we don’t break bread with each other, we can still work side by side, walk down the street with everyone, even show up to church together, but we are one by one instead of one and one. We remain separated and more alone, with a need to fill that gap in our lives but the inability to find the right balm for that irritation. And there is the catch. We are easier to take down when we are alone. Remember Peter said:
Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings. 1 Peter 5:8-9
Satan wants us to be alone. He wants us to be desperate and confused, searching for meaning, connection, hope, but only in the places he wants us to look. The temporary vices and distractions. That allows him to keep our focus away from God, away from salvation, and away from each other. You can see it everywhere you look now. We are attuned to a digital babysitter for our every need, and much unhappier than ever.
There are other layers to this dream phrase as well. It takes a whole new meaning if we consider the word “bread” to be the Eucharist, and how it bonds us together as a community of faithful believers. I think that has merit as well.
But in the end I think it means we need each other, and it says how we do that, in the simplest terms possible.
So when you see me sign off some of my messages by saying “With bread,” what I’m hoping to say to you is that I’m sharing with you and you are brothers and sisters of mine. Not just strangers. Because we need to connect with each other to stay strong in the face of the works against us and against our Lord. We can be confident and strong together but we need to make sure we look for those connections along the way. The simplest thing means the world.
With bread
Chris
