Bread of Life

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” — John 6.35

This is one of the best known lines out of John’s Gospel. What what in the name of all that is holy does it mean?!

This summer I got to spend several weeks with some of the most amazing folks I’ve ever met. In June there was Senior Conference at the Cathedral Domain, the camps and conference center of the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington. This is the camp for 9th through 12th grade students and I was amazed at the depth of spirit and love among the campers. They amaze me. The Spirit of God was moving among the campers as we sang and prayed and talked.

Then we began to welcome students for their university orientation called “See Blue U.” Meeting the incoming students and their parent again renewed my belief in just how amazing the upcoming students are. Almost all true freshmen at UK were born in the year 2000 and after. They see the world differently and they want to change the world and I’m excited to see what impact they’ll have on the world.

In July, I made a pilgrimage to Hot Springs, NC for the Wild Goose Festival. It was seriously one of the strangest and most meaningful experiences of my life. The festival is a gathering of religious, mainly Christian, folks who have a passion for justice, music, art, and a deep and abiding love for the world. Over the days I was there, I met people from all over the country, and world, who had descended on this campground to hear God and each other and to be supported on the way. I came back energized.

And there it was. Everyone I met was Jesus to me and everyone I met fed my spirit. I hadn’t realized how tired I was, how hungry I was, how thirsty I was. And I was fed by my time with these folks. They were the bread of life in my weariness.

I think I agree with Jesus. Every time I came to meet Jesus at camp, at UK, at Wild Goose, I wasn’t hungry, I wasn’t thirsty. If we keep our lives open, if we come to Jesus with open arms in the same way that Jesus comes to us with open arms, if we come to the Christ in each other, we will find the bread of life. We will never go hungry. We will never go thirsty.