Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
~ John 6:35
This was a Lenten season sonnet. It is a reflection on Christ as the bread of life. We need bread to live, just as we need Christ to live. God gives us bread, just as he gave us Jesus. But we too easily seek first to assuage our physical needs to fill our stomachs, rather than seeking first to acknowledge our spiritual needs to fill our spirits. Jesus is the bread of life.
Bread from Heaven
Beneath the misting dew of morning air
Lie fragile flakes, like frost on desert sands.
Stunned refugees, in Moses' thankless care,
Find bread from heaven in their doubting hands.
Three loaves of bread, a boy's in Galilee,
Taken, blessed and broken, given to all
By Jesus, fills His followers' hungry needs,
But only stomachs thank him, not their souls.
We live and strive for passing food that fills
Yet leaves us empty, wanting, crying out
For signs and manna, sent to calm and still
Our anxious unbelief and dulling doubt.
Come bread of God--of life--true heaven's food
And at your table we will feast on you.
(Exodus 16:4-21; John 6:1-14, 26-35)