Sleeping with Bread: Monday, October 27th

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Monday, October 27th

I have no words for this host post. My brain is full of stages of adult intellectual development from absolute knowing to contextualized relativism. It is as bad as it sounds, I promise you!

So, without furter adieu--or reference to academia--let the bread sharing begin!

stained glass Pictures, Images and Photos

Although the examen is a Christian practice and I am a Christian, I would hope that anyone who has something to share would feel welcome here.

Also, if you don't have your own blog and would like to participate, share your bread in the comments.

To holding on to what gives life,

Mary-LUE

7 comments:

Anonymous said...: Maybe my post will help Mary-Lue.; October 27, 2008 6:34 AM
Tara Lamont said...: More bread - enjoy.
Tara; October 27, 2008 9:56 AM
Anonymous said...: Hmmm...I'm not sure if I struck the reflective mood I was aiming for with my first attempt. But I'll let it stand just, and try to do better next week.; October 27, 2008 11:26 PM
Woman in a Window said...: My bread is the fact that each new day brings me new opportunity to be a better person, a better parent. If I had to go to sleep holding onto all of my screw ups over the course of each day I'd be a mess. Sure, I sometimes revel in self-abuse in my sheets at night but knowing that I will try harder the next day keeps me sane.; October 28, 2008 8:19 AM
Elizabeth said...: I'm late, but I'm here.

Elizabeth; October 28, 2008 8:35 AM
Threadhead said...: Hi, I'm Linda and new here. I am thankful for a wonderful vacation week with my family. I will also choose to be thankful when adversity comes, because in adversity I grow and learn and see God at work. My adversity this week is my dh's health and his not doing all he could do to take care of himself.; November 02, 2008 11:59 AM
Unknown said...: Woman in a Window and ThreadHead, thanks for joining us in the comments! I hope you'll join us again.; November 02, 2008 11:24 PM

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What is Sleeping with Bread?

During the bombing raids of WWII, thousands of children were orphaned and left to starve. The fortunate ones were rescued and placed in refugee camps where they received food and good care. But many of these children who had lost so much could not sleep at night. They feared waking up to find themselves once again homeless and without food. Nothing seemed to reassure them. Finally, someone hit upon the idea of giving each child a piece of bread to hold at bedtime. Holding their bread, these children could finally sleep in peace. All through the night the bread reminded them, "Today I ate and I will eat again tomorrow." (Linn, Dennis et al, Sleeping With Bread, p.l)

These are the beginning words of a book that introduced me to a practice called the examen. The orphans held on to what nourished them and were thus able to sleep peacefully at night. The examen, based on the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, helps a person hold onto what spiritually nourishes him by looking at what is giving him consolation in his life or causing him desolation. It allows someone to express his gratitude to God for the good stuff and turn to him for solace for the bad stuff. It is quite simple. You simply ask yourself, in the last day/week/month what gave me consolation and what caused me desolation.

How do you do it?

Sleeping with Bread is a Monday meme. You can participate in one of two ways: 1) Pick one of the above examen question sets and answer it in the comments section of my SWB post; or, 2) Create your own Sleeping with Bread post. You are welcome to right click on the Sleeping with Bread button and save it to your own computer before uploading into your post. Then, make sure you come back and put the link to your post in the automated Mr. Linky form at the end of the current SWB post. I hope you will join me and my fellow bakers as we Sleep with Bread on Mondays!