We break this bread to share
 
It is not just on the front page of the news, it is on every page:  The Economic Crisis.  We are told that sooner rather than later, the current economic downturn will have an impact of everyone.
 
Many of us thought we had our plans made and our lives organized.  Then, within weeks last summer, things began to unravel.  The future was filled with uncertainty.  Some financial "experts" proved dishonest, some confused.  All, even the previously optimistic, are now cautious.  It is not just our savings accounts that are unpredictable, it is people's jobs and homes?and the money, jobs, and homes of our friends and families.
 
During this season of Epiphany we are reminded that God can and does reveal Godself in the ordinary ups and downs of life.  Just as there are days that seem filled with fear and uncertainty, there may also be times we can allow God to "intrude" in ways we had not planned.  It was for the sake of people who were anxious and afraid that God sent Jesus.  It is to people who had little or had lost much that Jesus announced the nearness of the kingdom of God.  We break the bread at the Eucharist to remind us of this.
 
And then we share the broken bread.  Let us share our anxieties and fears with one another and with God.  This is testimony to our hope for the broken lives and broken world that we offer up to God.  
 

--Rev. Ann H. Franklin