Lessons Learned While Making Bread
by Rachel Hayden
The work of making bread by hand is filled with lessons. As I mixed, kneaded, waited, punched, divided, waited some more, baked, checked, cooled, sliced, and finally tasted two batches of bread, I realized that this ancient work was teaching me timeless lessons that went far beyond bread making. Perhaps the appeal of bread lies not only in its life-sustaining nourishment but its life lessons as well?
Bread lesson #1 - Follow instructions. Baking bread is a science where cooking is an art. If a recipe is not followed precisely and I add too much yeast, I’m going to have a kitchen full of dough. Leave out the yeast and I’ll have a deliciously baked brick of flour. Yeast, flour, sugar, and warm water all create specific chemical reactions that are vital to proper bread making.
Life lesson #1 - Sometimes, it’s best to follow an already established path. It’s okay to walk where others have walked before. I don’t have to be a trailblazer all of the time. And just like with bread, not following instructions can get me into a heap of sticky trouble.
Bread lesson #2 - Put in extra effort. Kneading bread dough takes effort, strength, and determination. That dough has to be smooth when it starts to rise or it might not turn out right. Getting that dough smooth means I have to keep on working it after my arms are tired and my hands are messy.
Life lesson # 2 - Not everything in life comes easy. Life is not the Garden of Eden and things don’t often fall into my lap. But giving up won’t solve anything, nor will it leave me feeling satisfied. That means I have to push on, stare full steam ahead, and keep kneading through life.
Bread lesson #3 - Have patience. The bread dough takes time to rise. And not only does it have to rise once, it has to rise twice! As a person with very little patience, I have often just decided the dough was done and baked it anyway. And then I’m shocked when the bread is short, dense, and tastes like wallpaper paste. Bread dough is like a new child – it must be kept warm, nurtured, and allowed to bloom. It’s okay to check its progress but let it do it’s thing. Patience results in a light, fluffy, perfect loaf of bread that tastes better than I could have imagined.
Life lesson #3 - God didn’t design the world to make sure that I get everything I need and want exactly when I want it. There is often a huge difference between “God’s timing” and “Rachel’s timing.” When something doesn’t happen when I think it should, I begin to question if God is listening. Yet I know full well that He is in control of everything and He has my situation in His hands. Being impatient solves nothing and causes me to distance myself to God. I have to learn to sit back, relax, and let Him do His work. Bread doesn’t run on Rachel time and God certainly doesn’t either!
The development of bread is really a microcosm for the development of the soul. When we stand over the ingredients, we become the creator of the bread. We must work and knead the bread in order to make the end product a thing of delicate texture and delicious flavor. We will probably mess the bread up the first few times we make it, perhaps even creating something that is inedible. In the end, though, the bread will be perfect and just as we intended it to be. God works and kneads us in much the same way. We will probably become unsavory a few times along the way as we follow our own paths instead of the Lord’s path. But if we look to Heaven and seek Him through prayer and devotion, listen to His instructions, work hard to serve Him, and put our trust in His timing, we can hope for the perfection that only exists in Heaven. In the end, we will be just as God intended for us to be.