The Beginning

Bread is love. In its beginning it must be mixed, folded, kneaded, then left to rest only to be punched down. From its fallen state it is formed and left to rest once more then put through a time of intense heat. A transformation happens. It become durables and sustaining, giving life to those who eat of it. Bread is life.

I learned how to make bread from my father. My family, including distant cousins, is on this back-to-basics kick, I am no exception. Learning how to make such a basic part of life was amazing to me. Bread seems to be something people only think can be found in stores, little thought given to making it, almost like it's a lost art form. I learned and I began to make it weekly back at my own house. The smell of baking bread would fill the whole first floor of my house along with the stairwell. My bread would come out of the oven and at least 5 people would show up. I quickly learned how much I love bread. The crush started with the amazing taste of fresh bread, of course, but it evolved into something else. Bread brings people together. It's something that is common to so many cultures.

I soon started having "Bread Days" with people in my house and taught them how to make bread. My love for bread grew. It was something else that was great about bread. The satisfaction of making bread from scratch is immense and sharing it with another is even greater. Seeing someone else get so much satisfaction from making a basic element of life is indescribable. The knowledge that they can actually make it themselves is so invigorating.

This takes me to where I am now. I want to know more about it. I have caught a glimpse of what bread represents and I want to know more and it has now become a personal study. I want to understand all aspects of bread, the physical, relational and theological aspects of it in both the past and present. That is why I have started this blog. This is my journey through bread. I'll have my research posted here, including historical and Biblical references along with my experiences in baking it. I'm pretty excited about this and can't wait to get started.
Bread is love, and may we all have plenty of it in our lives.

With bread,
~Chad