By Bread Alone

“If you are so great, then have this report done by the end of day.”  “If you are so wonderful then, you be the captain and lead the team to a victory.”  “If you are all that, then you need to be the one to give the speech and rally the troops to follow us in this case.”  “If you are so great...”. So many times we have heard these words, some many times we have uttered these words and for what?   To prove greatness; to prove strength; to prove dominance?  Too often we fight to live up to expectations which have no baring on our daily living, actually they seem to impede upon our growth for they take from us our innocence, take from us our innate knowledge of truth, of the Father’s reality only to leave a void of wonder, of inquisition, of doubt.  Attempts are made to work through such arrogance yet arrogance wins when the heart is not permitted to speak.  Fighting the inquisition renders the ego defamed and ashamed causing a more violent, a more personal attack than first intended.  In an effort to save face, the ego attempts to force our hand with bouts of arrogance, followed by bouts of guilt, and finally, bouts of narcissism.  Quickly we become lost in the vanity disguised as humanity until we see not the wanderings of the heart, crediting the mind for all of the good becoming our human interest.  In the quagmires we wander, self-centered we see only our own footsteps though other prints can be found and screams can be heard.  Into the void we surrender our beings, searching for our greatness, accepting our wondrous acclamations, while perceiving each action as momentous.  Haughty our arrogance, suspect to narcissistic indifference, the wondering turns to wandering and soon it is becomes our attempt to be that which the ego seeks, that which haunts pride to the pint of coveting the expectations of greatness; yet greatness as defined by human language, not the Father’s truths.  Challenged by social apathy, we crave that which others deem impossible and will what others fail to accomplish.  When pressed, we dig deep, yet it is within these depths where we find ourselves lost, choked by the very rope which we seek to uncoil.  Another notch on the victory rung for the ego; stealing from us plausible understanding of truth.  Instead of searching for what we are not, instead of attempting to become what others doubt that we can be, instead of agonizing over tangible derivatives of the ego, maybe we need to turn the page, reread Jesus’ response to, “If you are so great...” lest we be further tempted to turn stones into bread.  By bread alone we do not live, thus by bread should we not allow temptation.   That which masquerades as important, that which demands our attention deserve neither importance nor attention for the heart wears no masks nor makes no demands; the heart holds, it speaks, it heals and it understands.  The heart is our home, the home of the Father wanting us to live our dignity, wanting us to share our dignity not embellish the tides of the ego, immortalizing the human consciousness of language and vain action.  Strength comes not from greatness; rather strength comes from our identity with the Father, in His image we were made, thus in His image we must maintain our dignity by service of faith in action.  When challenged, we need not hide, nor lash out in anger, simply, we need to respond in kindness and surrender in love.  To live in the heart is to speak with the soul and act with compassion without the premises of greatness for in the eyes of the Father, we are great because we are His love, the image of His being.  Thus, when confronted by accusations of ineptness, we need not retaliate with choice weapons of the ego; our only response need be, “On bread, alone, we do not live.”  His words, His actions, now our responsibility.