Activity 1: The Web in the Bread (10 minutes), Workshop 4: Blow In the Wind, Rise In The Sea: Nature And Spirit
In "Spirit of Life," a Tapestry of Faith program
Materials for Activity
A loaf of whole grain bread
A knife and cutting board
A plate for the bread
Small napkins for all participants
Bell
Preparation for Activity
Purchase a loaf of whole grain bread. If you have participants with known food allergies you may wish to purchase (or invite them to bring) a second loaf of bread that is free of ingredients they need to avoid.
Slice the bread and arrange it on the plate, with at least one piece per participant.
Description of Activity
Place the loaf of bread on the table or hold it up for participants to see.
Invite participants to consider all the elements of the interdependent web of existence involved in creating this loaf of bread and bringing it here, and to name some of those elements aloud. If ideas flow slowly, encourage participants to think about things as diverse as ingredients, transportation, economies, markets, workers, the local store, money, celestial bodies, the founding of the congregation, and the production of this curriculum. When the brainstorm feels close to complete, share the bread, saying:
We give thanks for the web of life, more complex than we understand, and for each strand of the web. We depend upon much more than we know.
Pass the bread in silence. When each participant has a piece of bread, invite them into mindful eating with these words:
I invite you to eat your bread. As you chew and swallow, call to mind the interconnected elements of life that have come together in this loaf, in this moment.
