2nd Sunday in Lent

2nd Sunday in Lent

Lectionary Texts:  Genesis 15:1-12,17-18;  Psalm 27;

Philippians 3:17-4:1;  Luke 13:31-35

Bread Words

"He brought him outside and said, 'Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.'  Then he said to him, 'So shall your descendants be.' "  (Genesis 15:5)

It is awe-inspiring to acknowledge that the metaphorical stars in Abram's vision were the same stars he saw in the night sky when he was awake.  Blazing brightly in distant constellations, the stars visible to Abram are visible to us in the 21st-century.  It is no less amazing to recognize that we are the metaphorical stars of the vision.  We are the descendants of Abram (whether or not he would want to claim us). 

Though much knowledge has been gained about the true nature of stars since the time of Abram, it is convenient to represent the celestial bodies with a pentacle.  For this bread, I created a pattern from newspaper and cut the star shape from the bread.  The result was a rather flat loaf with the advantage of having cut-away wedges of warm bread for immediate consumption.  The bread could also be pushed and pulled into the shape of a star using the pattern as a guide.

The dough is a simple one made with whole wheat, milk, and honey and flavored with an herbal almond tea infusion.

1 1/2 cups milk, heated

1 Tablespoon active dry yeast

1 cup whole wheat flour

4-4 1/2 cups unbleached flour

4 Tablespoons olive oil

4 Tablespoons honey

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

(Herbal tea of choice for flavor)

Pour half of the heated milk into a large mixing bowl and let it cool sufficiently for the yeast to be dissolved.  To the remainder of the warm milk, steep the herbal tea. (I used two sachets of Celestial Seasonings Almond Sunset.)  Add the whole wheat flour to the dissolved yeast and stir for about two minutes.  Let the yeast mixture stand for a few minutes while the herbal tea is steeping in the other portion of milk.  Remove the tea sachets and gently squeeze out the milk; add the honey, olive oil, and salt to the tea-flavored milk and stir to dissolve the honey.  Add the flavored milk mixture to the yeast mixture.  Stir in enough flour to make a stiff dough.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, scraping the bowl thoroughly.  Knead the dough for about 8 minutes.  Grease the mixing dough with olive oil.  Place the dough in the bowl, turning the dough over to cover the entire surface with oil.  Let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours.

While the dough was rising, I decided to look up the words for the hymn that had been singing in my mind, "The God of Abraham Praise."  According to The New Century Hymnal (The Pilgrim Press, 1995), "the twelfth-century scholar Moses Maimonides drew up the tirteen articles of the Hebrew creed, which were subsequently cast in metrical form (the Yigdal)."  The versification is attributed to Daniel ben Judah, circa 1400, and the tune, LEONI, is a traditional Yigdal melody adapted by Meyer Lyon in 1770.  This translation is reportedly a collaboration between Rabbi Max Landsberg and a Unitarian minister, Newton Mann, in 1884.  To follow are three verses in English:

The God of Abraham praise, all praises to God's name,

who was and is and is to be, fore'er the same!

The one eternal God, before what now appears;

the First, the Last:  beyond all thought through timeless years!

God's spirit freely flows, high surging where it will;

God spoke of old in prophet's word; that word speaks still.

Established is God's law, and changeless it shall stand,

deep written on the human heart, in every land.

God has eternal life implanted in the soul;

God's love shall be our strength and stay, while ages roll.

All praise the living God!  Extol that hallowed name,

          who was, and is, and ever shall be still the same!

After the dough has risen, remove from the bowl and pat it out on the baking sheet which has been well-greased.  Shape the dough as you prefer.  The images to follow reflect the "cut-out" technique.

Let the dough rise in a warm place for about one hour, and then bake at 375-degrees for about 45 minutes.  Let the bread remain on the baking sheet for about five minutes after removal from the oven.  Transfer the bread to a cooling rack to cool thoroughly.

   

When we eat the bread, we are reminded that we are the stars and that our faith shines forth through us.  Even as the celestial stars shine down on ALL of God's creation, we remember that God's love endures and embraces our flawed humanity.  May we revel in the wonder of that LOVE!