Bread Therapy

I have often written of bread therapy and how baking helps me to focus,relax, think, when I am troubled. I have shared this with a couple of my teens. Invited them over to bake some bread with me when I thought some thing was troubling them. I watched them relax, think, and then share with me what is on their mind. It has worked well with both male and female students.

A few months ago a male student called me and said I need a Chris intervention, this is what his family calls it when one of them needs me to help with a problem, he had a car accident. Every one was okay but his car was not, it was totaled. It was a new driver verse heavy rain accident. He was not in trouble with his parents, in fact his father was in the car and knew that he did not do anything reckless. This teen was very angry about the accident and nearly bit his sisters head off. That is when he called me. I picked him up and brought him here and set him about making cookies. By the time he was done he was calmer and able to talk about his feelings. Baking therapy works wonders.

Now I have a new concept bread theology. Last week one of the young me in a very small group that I lead posed an interesting question in response to a challenge I had issued him a couple of week before. His challenge was to choose, choose to have faith or choose to not have faith. He has been sitting on the fence for years and my challenge to him was to get off the fence on one side or the other. Last week as the group talked about how they are each doing with their personal challenge he said, "I can't choose until I understand why I must choose." His question for himself is "Why must I choose?"

To help him understand why he must choose I am using bread. Next week we will be meeting at another house with a larger kitchen. There are three of us total, "John Doe" who is a teen male that has faith and strives to grow in Christ but is week in putting God first, "Sam Smith" who is the male I discribed above and myself.

Each of us will make a loaf of bread. Each will have the same ingredients but John Doe will have the recipe and will be able to ask for help. Sam Smith will have to do it all on his own. I will make my bread from memory and skill and prior knowledge of a life long experience of bread making.


John Doe with direction will make a decent loaf of bread, it will rise and be tasty. Sam Smiths bread with no knowledge or skill or direction will not be able to produce an edible loaf of bread. My loaf should come out well since I make a simple loaf of bread all the time, I am pretty sure it will come out the best of the bunch.

The bread represents our lives, without directions our lives will not rise and will not be pleasant to eat, with direction we can make something pretty good and tasty that will rise and be what it should, with a life long dedication to learning and following those directions we can produce a rather fine loaf of bread, light and fluffy full of flavor.

Answering the question of why should I choose, you need to choose because you want a life that is light and fluffy and full of flavor not flat and not edible.