On the Blessing of the Bread

By Dale S. Cox

Called to redemption,

Israel wandered empty wastes,

Yet ate hoar manna:

Heaven’s harvest in a fruitless land.

At Christ’s feet,

Five thousand sat with empty hands,

Yet from five loaves

Were fed and filled.

He who made not devil’s stones bread,

Yet fed his hungry people.

And still he does.

For we, too, walk in wastelands,

And we wait before his table

With empty hands

To eat the bread of life:

God’s gift in famine’s day,

And supper to our souls.