I Am (Living Bread)
| fr tim writes |
“Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died… I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever” (John 6.49-51)
Living bread is not just religious memorial or practice. These things can mark our journey to what is and can help us get there. But they are not themselves our destination. God is. Truth is. The Living Christ is. We travel toward our destination not by our own initiative but by Christ’s initiative. God’s initiative.
God is drawing us to Godself all the time, in so many ways, through our religion, yes, but also through nature, Scripture, art, science, through each other, through the events and moments in our lives, through our senses, our minds, our bodies, even the food we eat.
When we eat mindfully, we touch the source and the destination of our lives. “I am the living bread”, says Jesus. When we take in the Holy Eucharist mindfully, we are filled with the body and life of the living Christ, of Creation, of the Creator.
Life, truth, what is real is never just memory work or rigid observance of sacred ritual. Jesus is clear that such an end, if it is indeed an end in itself, leads only to death. The Israelites ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. Clinging too tightly to tradition can blind the clinger to the presence of the “living bread” here and now. It is here and now that we might eat and live.
Tonnau Duw ('God's waves') Fr Tim Ardouin 
Thanks for this Tim really spoke to me yesterday and I quoted part of it in the sermon this morning. Meg and I are hoping to come to healing service on 23rd so hopefully see you there.
Sue x Sent from my iPad
>
Thank you Sue. Hope to see you both at Llanelen 3 pm on 23rd. God bless