Breaking Bread -- Eating God
"And as they were eating, Jesus took
bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples,
and said, Take, eat; this is my body" (Matt 26:26). This
New Testament - new way of looking at everything - is here now,
waiting for you to savor. Jesus said, "Eat of Me!"
This Me is CHRIST: "the divine manifestation of God, which
comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error" (SH 583:10).
Jesus is saying that his new testament
is everywhere in your experience. Translate everything you do
into spiritual substance and action. For example, every time
you are hungry and you pick up a piece of bread, look deeply,
translate it as I have shown you; know that it is God that you
are eating and His perfect man that is doing the eating. Is there
anything outside of God, anything other than God? Is not God
all? Mary Baker Eddy says, "Our bread, 'which cometh down
from heaven,' is Truth" (SH 35:26). Therefore, Truth is
the substance that feeds and sustains spiritual man. "Jesus
said unto them . . . my Father giveth you the true bread from
heaven" (John 6:32). Mrs. Eddy insisted that every meal
preparation in her household be a demonstration of Truth's appearing.
When presented with her meal, her spiritual insight could detect
whether the cook had succeeded. "For the bread of God is
he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world"
(John 6:33).
How shall I eat God?
Take it! It is not a handout. It is bought with a price, as gold
tried in the fire. Do not be lukewarm about it, as were the Laodiceans,
neither cold nor hot. The Christ, Truth, was indigestible to
them, and their lack of demonstration was vomited out of His
mouth. Those who are emotionally attached to their bodies and
insist on staying in dreamland are fooled into believing that
they have no use for palatable Life bread. They are self-satisfied
surface dwellers, unwilling to go out and pick the fruit of the
Spirit.
Is God digestible?
Matter cannot digest Spirit. Only that which is Holy in you will
be invigorated, strengthened, fed, and loved. Spiritual digestion
forces material sense into submission simply because when you
are filled with good, you no longer hunger for the speculative
benefits that the senses offer.
How does God taste?
"O taste and see that the Lord is good" (Ps 34:8).
The angel commanded Saint John to take the little open
book; "take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly
bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey" (Rev
10:9). First knowledge of God is a transformative gift - a sweet
taste of eternity and a bugle call to action. Continued growth,
however, requires you "to cut off the right hand and pluck
out the right eye, - that is, to set aside even the most cherished
beliefs and practices, to leave all for Christ" (SH 141:7).
The demands of Truth are not always easy to swallow; you need
to chew on them until you understand there is no other truth
possible. Pleasures and material dependence yield slowly, but
as you tire of them and invite Soul to govern your bodies, all
functions and conditions return to normal - sustained by spiritual
power alone.
How much shall I eat?
How much incarnate error are you willing of see destroyed?
How much sin are you ready to watch truth dissolve? Eat ye all
of it, all that you are given. Eating the Word is a taste of
Jesus' experience, a sense of his glory.
How will I recognize this true Bread?
God is unleavened bread, unaffected by the contaminating spores
of this world. Conscience, intuition, and moral courage constitute
the voice of good within; they will guide you.
"Give us this day our daily bread"
- sufficient grace to feed our famished affections.
George Denninger © |
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