Skip to main content

new collage: bread alone



"bread alone"
mixed media collage (bread tabs, cut paper, acrylic paint, glue on stretched canvas)
february, 2019
gregory a. milinovich

"one does not live by bread alone," said Jesus, when he was out in his own spiritual wilderness, feeling hungry and tempted to use his power to satisfy his own wishes.  the voice of the tempter came to him, saying, "c'mon....look at all these stones...if you wanted, you could easily turn them to bread...you could satisfy your hunger, and instantly meet all the needs of the world." 

it had to be tempting. 

but Jesus knew that there was more than just bread and stones at stake here.  he knew that "easy fixes" wouldn't really be an answer to the problem of evil and brokenness.  he knew that bread was going to need to be broken, in order to really provide the wholeness that the world was so desperately hungry for. 

so he quoted scripture.  he recalled deuteronomy 8, where the israelites were remembering how God led them through their own wilderness journey, and how God provided daily bread for them.  this manna from heaven (what is it?) was provided each day in a quantity that was sufficient for that day alone.  there was no hoarding.  there was no stockpiling.  there was no us and them, or "in" and "out."  there was only this overwhelming sense that what they had was coming from God.  there was only the undeniable truth that life was about more than bread, but about "every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (deut. 8:3). 

and then that word (logos) became enfleshed.  the word that was with God and was God?  that "word" that proceeds from God, and is the thing that gives us life?  that word is Jesus.  he came and dwelt among us so that we might have life overflowing.  he is the bread of the world; bread that isn't about easy fixes, but about self-sacrificial love.  bread that is broken, for the wholeness of the world. 

that bread of life was broken by death, but rose victorious in life. 

see, we don't live by bread alone. 
but by the bread of life. 
by the word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 
Jesus is that word. 
Jesus is the bread of life. 
Jesus is the bread that was broken.
Jesus is the Love that is stronger than all the death and brokenness evil could throw at him.
Jesus is the one who told us that love is our highest calling.
Jesus is the one who gave us a new commandment,
   that we love one another as he has loved us.
Jesus is the one who told us that the way people would know we are his followers
   is our love. 

so in these days of brokenness, may we remember the love to which we are called.  may we remember that the bread from heaven was for all.  may we remember that we do not live by bread (or institutions, or right opinions, or passionate dogma) alone, but by the very Word of God, the One who is Love: Jesus. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

bad haircuts (for a laugh)

everybody needs to laugh.  one good way i have found to make that happen is to do a simple google image search for 'bad haircut.'  when you do so, some of the following gems show up.  thankfully, my 9th grade school picture does NOT show up.  otherwise, it would certianly make this list!  please laugh freely and without inhibition.  thank you and have a nice day. 

happiness is dry underwear

we started potty training jack on thursday. we followed a program called POTTY TRAIN IN ONE DAY, which, by the way, i think is kind of crazy. i mean, if someone were to offer you a book called, "ACHIEVE WORLD PEACE IN ONE DAY" i don't think you would take it seriously. and yet here we are, trying to accomplish an equally daunting task in one 24-hour period. it is intense. the day is shrouded in a lie because as soon as your happily diapered child wakes up you tell him that it is a big party. we had balloons and streamers and noisemakers and silly string - all the trappings of a legitimate party. but it is most certainly not a party. it is a hellishly exhausting day. as soon as jack got out of bed, we gave him a present: an anatomically correct doll that wets himself. jack named him quincy. several times quincy successfully peed in the potty and even had an accident or two in his "big boy underwear." he also dropped a deuce that looked and smelled sus

the crucifixion of Robert Lewis

  "the crucifixion of Robert Lewis" mixed media collage with leaves, acrylic paint, and found objects by gregory a milinovich october 2023 this october i was invited to participate in a three day trip which was called a "pilgrimage of pain and hope."  while that may not sound super exciting to many of you, it actually really intrigued me.  i am the kind of person that wants to feel big feelings, and i am drawn to the deep places, so  i was interested in traveling to the scranton area, where the trip was planned, to see what it might look like to be a pilgrim that was wide-eyed and listening to the pain and the hope in the stories of others.   this trip included hearing the stories of immigrants to the northeastern pennsylvania area, and the work in the coal mines that many of them did.  it included hearing from folks who are working for housing justice and equity in downtown scranton.  it included hearing from those indigenous people who first inhabited that land.