Image courtesy of dan/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I know this seems like a strange topic, but today I want to reflect on the topic of “bread” as I think it relates to recovery and spirituality. In this region almost all twelve step meetings are closed with those present standing in a circle, holding hands and reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Part of that prayer, the one Christ taught as the way we should pray, asks God to “give us today our daily bread.”
For years, I very concretely assumed this phrase was asking God not to let us go hungry. In truth, it does probably ask that. However, I think it is asking more than that. In John 4, Christ associates “food” with doing God’s will, and that connotation applies more directly to spirituality and recovery. In fact, it is at the heart of recovery. Asking God to allow us to do God’s will on a daily basis is a daily reminder to turn our will and our lives over to the God of our understanding.
Part of my recovery is refraining from drinking alcoholic beverages and eating anything with flour or sugar in it. Reminding myself of this “God’s will” meaning of food effectively redirects my thinking to that which is essential for my physical and spiritual well being whenever I am tempted to give into a craving.
Well, today’s topic was rather short, but I know, at least for me, it was important to clarify the spiritual and recovery-related meaning of something I have asked God for since I was a child. Comments and thoughts on this topic are welcome. God bless and keep you.
Living One Day at a Time 