Reconnect with Tradition: Baking Bread as a Spiritual Act

24^th July 2008

We are so busy, always rushing about. We have never-ending lists of things to do. Yet, we are in such a hurry to be somewhere else, to be finishing one thing so that we can start doing something else, we completely forget to enjoy where we are and what we are doing right now.

We have become masters of multi-tasking. But by artfully managing many tasks at the same time we have lost the sacred art of being present. We have lost the simple pleasure of enjoying the moment.

To regain this, we need to slow down. We need time to reflect. This idea of reflection is an essential part of the new Resurgence Slow Sunday campaign.

For Resurgence Slow Sunday this weekend, we are inviting people to make bread as a defiant act of environmentalism. By baking our own bread we are rejecting commercialism. By baking our own bread we are honouring cultural and biological diversity. By baking our own bread we are also honouring ourselves.

When you are baking bread this weekend as part of Resurgence Slow Sunday, take notice of the word slow and try to ‘slow’ down. Take time to enjoy what you are doing. As you focus on the pleasures of mixing your ingredients and kneading the dough, you are turning the simple act of baking bread into an act of meditation. By focusing on the process you become deeply absorbed with what you are doing, you lose yourself in the moment. This is the very essence of meditation.

Taking time to enjoy the simple pleasures of life for nothing more than the joy they give is something that we need to reclaim. This is what life is all about. There is a Buddhist saying ‘When we forget the real reason we are living for, the worldliness of life becomes like quicksand that sucks you into a spiritual vacuum. When that happens, we live less and less – we merely stay alive.’S

Join us for Resurgence Slow Sunday and bake bread not just for the environment, but also for yourself. To find out more about Resurgence Slow Sunday go to www.resurgence.org/trust/slow-sunday.html

Special Offer. Buy a copy of Andrew Whitely's Bread Matters today for only £15 that's a 25% discount on the normal £20 retail price.