Slow down, take the time to break bread

There is more to the Mediterranean than sunshine and beaches. If you were able to wander into any village in Greece on any Sunday afternoon, you would see a beautiful sight. The bells have rung. Mass has concluded. An aroma clings around the village church of coffee and fresh bread. Sitting around tables in the parish hall, or gathered about trees and benches, are all the Christians who have just shared the Eucharist.

You can learn something from every culture. The Orthodox Christian Church has existed since the first century in many different nations with many different styles of worship. But there is one commonality throughout. Whether you are in Greece, Russia, Romania, Egypt, England, or America, wherever Orthodox Christians have met to pray, you can be sure you will find them eating together. They live to break bread.

I spent a little over a year in Greece, and during my stay, I took every opportunity to tour the country villages. Wherever I went, my hosts were eager to show me their local chapel at the heart of the town. First, they would bring me to the sanctuary. “This is where we drink from the common cup.” Then they would take me outside. “This is where we share bread and eat Loukoumia (cookies).” “This is where we roast our goats.” “This is where we all dance after Mass on the Holy Days.”

When I mentioned that in America we consider religion a ‘private affair,’ they’d give me a look of astonishment. “If you love something, then you have to share it! Religion is life! Religion is family!”

Another encounter confirmed my convictions in our need for community. I once had the privilege to meet a young woman named Dr. Nadezhda Savova-Grigorova. She was born in a poor community in Bulgaria. Her neighborhood was full of violence and prejudice between different cultures and religions. Wounds ran deep, which, She believed could never heal. However, everything changed in her heart.

Dr. Savova-Grigorova was out one day, and followed her nose to a bakery full of fresh bread. She was shocked by what she saw. Muslims and Christians were sitting together, side by side talking and eating together. The bread had drawn them together. The vision captivated and inspired her, and she is now the founder of an international charity, the Bread House Network. One loaf of bread at a time, she aspires to heal communities across the world.   

In 1923, a Jewish philosopher named Martin Buber published a book called “I and Thou.” He was convicted about the importance of sharing life. Life, as he saw it, is an odyssey. It requires a constant stretch from ego to otherness, from I to Thou. “All real living is meeting,” he writes.

The theologian, Kallistos Ware, echoes this sentiment is an equally simplistic profundity. “I become truly a person only when I look into your eyes and allow you to look into mine.” Community is at the heart of life.

There are many good parts of modern life. From automobiles, to indoor plumbing, to cell phones, modernity has ushered in an era of luxuries. However, as we continue to push forward, we would be wise to remember the good parts of traditional life.

The benefits of progress, all too often come with loss: We forget to visit the elderly; we forget to sit down and play with our children; we forget that there is nothing idle about sitting and sharing a cup of coffee.

The greatest parts of life only occur when we have slowed down enough to enjoy them. Can we create community? That is our challenge, and it does not take much more than a loaf of bread.

Father Peter Kavanaugh is rector at St. Benedict Orthodox Church in Wichita Falls.