Poem September 27, 1982 Issue

"Give us this day our daily bread." 1

"Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections."²

BARBARA COOK

What did they—they who heard the Master—know of bread?
I think they knew the work in it.
Gathering, mixing, kneading, forming, baking—not an easy
job. And every day,
Since only daily bread is never stale.
Fresh and sweet and new it comes,
The fragrance always wonderful.

So when our Master taught them "Give us . . ." in his prayer
What could they think? A gift of bread, NO WORK?
This truth/bread given free to us each day?
Can this be true, no need for men to EARN their bread,
Just open arms?

I didn't understand at once—not I,
Who years and years believed in earning everything
From bread . . . to glory . . . to joy . . . to love—
Working for good was what I knew.
(Yet we are saved by precious grace of God, not works, says Paul.)