Because Life is Made of Days

Halnya Nechyporuk, artist

Imaginative Prayers from the Original Language of Jesus, Part V

A Lenten Series

Have you ever lived hand-to-mouth, only having enough money to pay for your immediate, most essential needs? There were two times in our life when we were financially strapped. One was when David was in graduate school. The other was when we both resigned unexpectedly from our roles at a megachurch. Both seasons were very difficult. It was hard pinching pennies. It was hard to experience the uncertainty of whether we would have enough today, this week, or this month. I can say, however, that these two seasons taught us something about how to be thrifty during lean times. 

While we know what it’s like to experience financial limitations and the challenge of receiving only enough for “our daily bread,” we also don’t have any idea what it is truly like to go hungry. What it’s like to not have enough for even our most basic needs. Yet more than 36 million people currently live below the poverty line in our country! 

In the fifth line of the Lord’s prayer, Jesus instructed his disciples (and us) to pray and ask God to “Give us this day our daily bread.” It’s hard not to notice the emphasis on the dailiness of this request. Not a week’s supply. Not bread to hold us over until the end of the month. But bread for to-day. Because life is made of days. 

The Bread of Understanding

Neil Douglas-Klotz explains the meaning of “bread” in Jesus’ original language: 

*A word very rich in meaning, lachma, is both “bread” and “understanding”—food for all forms of growth and for elementary life in general.

In fact, bread in Aramaic has the same root as the Hebrew word for Holy Wisdom or Sophia, a word often used in the Proverbs. What Jesus is encouraging us to ask God for are daily doses of nourishment that feed the body, mind, and soul—the provisions we all need for life’s journey. 

Did the story of the Israelites receiving daily manna come to the disciple’s minds when Jesus taught them how to pray in this way? For forty years, they wandered in the desert, each morning collecting a fine powdery substance on the ground to make bread. If the Israelites tried to collect more than they needed, it would spoil overnight, except on Friday when they collected a double portion for the Sabbath. What a way to live! Not having any reserves. Not seeing evidence of any accumulation of wealth or provision. Just the need to depend daily on God to feed them.  

Given our current unstable economic environment and our critical need for direction in how to live during such stressful times, Jesus’ instruction to live incrementally, one day at a time, is more relevant than ever. It’s not about ignoring the future or failing to prepare for potential crises. It’s about recognizing that living a day at a time is crucial for our health and well-being. It’s about being present to this day and the wisdom needed to live well today, rather than being consumed by the “what if’s” of tomorrow. 

We live best when we live one day at a time. It is how we are meant to live, whether in peace or war times, abundant or lean times, happy or sad times. Days are the unit of time we humans are best at managing. By living life incrementally, a day at a time, we are more apt to depend upon God and less on our surplus, our own intellect to figure things out, on our privilege, on the abundance of our 401K, or the balance in our savings. We are present to this day and to the wisdom required to live well today. 

As the financial industry reels from Trump’s tariffs on our allies (Canada, Mexico, and Europe) and adversaries (all except Russia!), most economists express grave concern that these reckless decisions will lead to a recession, potentially worldwide. Some wonder if they are simply a stunt to make us as American citizens and other countries around the world (except Russia) beg for relief. It’s sick, isn’t it? And, as is always the case, the humans who will suffer most from this tyranny are those who already live “hand to mouth.” Or worse, those who don’t even have enough in their hand to put in their mouth! 

This line of the Lord’s prayer is really practical and applicable right now because it invites us and trains us to:

• Ask for what we need for today—both bread and insight! 

• Be content with what we have instead of yielding to greed and hoarding. 

• Remain present to what is rather than pining for what isn’t. 

• Look to God to meet our needs for today rather than become overwhelmed by the “what if’s” of tomorrow.  

• Pray with us and our pronouns as we share with those in need. 

Body and Breath Prayers:

*Intone the sound lachma (lah-ch-mah) slowly, feeling how the phrase becomes denser inside. What do we need for this moment of our lives?

*Prayers of the Cosmos: Reflections on the Original Language of Jesus, Neil Douglas-Klotz