Give us this day our daily bread?

Were you well-fed this weekend? Many of us try to limit our daily food consumption, if not so much on Thanksgiving Day in the US. Never in our lives have we worried about whether we would obtain our daily bread. So these words from the most important prayer of Christianity appear hollow and insincere. Do I really need to ask God for food - or even be thankful for it?

Yet, this prayer asks God to provide OUR daily bread - not mine. The prayer calls us to move from a selfish expression of individual need to a deeper desire that is bold enough to include those who will suffer from hunger today. It requires us to think beyond our abundant Thanksgiving spread to include some of the 2.4M people in the US who are hungry today, and the 828M people around the world . Can we be bold enough to connect to some of these people so that we see their faces and feel their hunger when we pray?

In our pursuit of unity, we can then ask what is the meaning of GIVE in this prayer? Surely even those who believe in a God of miracles are not merely asking for mana to be sent from heaven. Our request for a gift aligns with our pursuit of the courage and motivation to act for a better world "on earth as it is in heaven". We can do more than passive thoughts and prayers that wait for a miracle. What call to action is inspired by the request for our daily bread?

Sister Marlene asked me this week if I could help with food, and some library books, for the children under the care of her community in West Africa, where countries have experienced food price hikes of as much as 122% since January . Initially, I hesitated to respond, feeling overwhelmed by the distance and the magnitude of the need. But Sister Marlene must be among the US for whom I pray. And my prayer must translate from words to action.

Let's unite in prayer and action today for OUR daily bread. We can approach our friends, volunteer with a local nonprofit, and learn more to bring the grasp of hunger closer to home. The options for thoughtful and impactful sharing of bread are numerous, whether through church groups like Sister Marlene's, international organizations like World Vision , or pioneering social enterprises like Mariseth Farms .

Give US this day our daily bread.