Our Daily Bread

The art of life is to live in the present moment, and to make that moment as perfect as we can by the realization that we are the instruments and expression of God Himself.
- Ernest Holmes

The Lord’s prayer says give us this day our daily bread. What is this daily bread and what is the nature of how we receive this bread?


A deep walk with the Divine requires a level of surrender that takes a lot of inner work to embrace. We are promised that we shall be cared for in all things (Matt 6:25-34). However, for most of us, this promise does not meet our liking or expectations. We would like to have a guarantee of particular things in the days, months and years ahead. However, we are only promised what we need for the moment in which we stand (our daily bread).

If you think about it, why wouldn’t what we need for right now be enough for us? In truth it is all that is necessary and, more importantly, it is certainly all that we can handle.

Truly living this idea of daily bread is an exercise in attending to the Presence. We can only receive the fullness of our daily bread when we listen for and to God. Have you noticed that we all have areas of our life that we don’t really trust God to handle? For many of us our financial situation is at the top of this list. We think we trust God, but at the same time we believe that our job provides us with income. In truth, God is the Source of all that we have, give and receive. Our job is just one of many possible means through which we receive our daily bread.

This does not mean that we all should quit our jobs, hang out and let other people take care of us financially. As I said above, it takes an extraordinary amount of spiritual work to authentically live into God’s provision of daily bread without having a job or some regular source of income. When we are prepared for that level of experience, we do not have to beg for money or live off of the labor of other people. Our provision will show up with ease and grace, and the people around us will not need to know any of the details.

It does mean that we should never become attached to the particular channel through which God provides for us. The one thing we can depend on is change. When we find ourselves cut off from one mode, we can have faith that another channel is ready to open for us. And we can pray for the clarity of perception to be able to see and embrace the new idea as quickly as possible. Our relationship with God is in the moment known as now. The energy we invest in that relationship allows us to become receptive to our Divine inheritance, our daily bread.

And so it is! Amen!