When a baby is born, the doctor spanks the baby's bottom, or now in a gentler age, rubs the baby vigorously with a towel. With enough stimulation, the baby opens her mouth and takes her first breath. From that moment on, the child is on a journey that ends when she takes her final breath,

It is an awesome and terrible path we lead from our birth to our death. There is so much to learn. So much to experience. So many heartbreaks. So many moments of exultation. Each moment building on the past moments to create this tapestry we call our lives.

This whole process of living is so incredibly complex and fascination. Every step we take impacts the future. People ask us, sometimes, if there is anything in our lives we wished we had changed. As I look back over my journey thus far, I see things I regret. Things that embarrass me. But I know that if any little thing had been done differently, our lives would not be what they are today. If I had passed chemistry, I might have not become an accountant, wouldn't have gone to Dallas, wouldn't have had the mentors to lead me toward ordination, wouldn't have met Kari. And on and on. Your lives would have been different if you had not heard this sermon. Maybe infinitesimally, But the information that is stored in your minds is based on what ever you have seen, heard, felt, smelled or tasted and every conversation affects the content of our journey's history.

I sit on a board that reviews certain juvenile crimes. Our purpose is to make sure the youth takes responsibility for their actions and understands the harm the act may have caused. We always have the youth tell who he thinks is harmed. Usually they'll say the victim, his parents, and the like. We try to get them to see that they have harmed the community as well. We develop a case plan for them to repair the harm they have caused. If they complete it, they will have no police record. We always point out how one momentary bad decision can affect the rest of the person's life.

We're all connected. We are at different places along our way, but everything you have done sets the road before me, as does mine yours.

Henry Smith gave me a good image. You've seen fishing nets hung on the wall as a decoration. If you tug, even a little, on one square, the entire net changes. If I pull on the top left corner, even the section at the bottom right changes shape. So it is with our lives.

Neil Diamond recorded a song, the first verse of which is:

"The road is long/ With many a winding turn/ That leads us to who knows where/ Who knows when/ But I'm strong/ Strong enough to carry him/ He ain't heavy, he's my brother."
I guess what I'm trying to say is that our lives are not our own. We can't simply say that our journey, our way of living, is our own business. There is no victimless crime. There is no solitary life. We are on this path with everyone else. Perhaps heading different directions, but bound by the net that tugs and misshapes us with every step of everyone else.
The road is long and winding (I'm amazed at how many songs this metaphor conjures up). The hills are steep and slippery. It takes a lot of energy to keep going. The angel told Elijah that he needed food for his journey and provided bread and water that lasted him 40 days. As our bodies need food and water, so does our soul.

Every time we face an opportunity to be self centered or mean spirited, our spiritual energy is strained. When ever we are in conflict with our children, our boss, our priest, we are drained of the spirit.

Jesus is the bread of life. Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.

I can't imagine living life without the Church and her sacraments, especially the Eucharist. When I'm tired or broken down, weary of the tug and pull, weighted down by the burdens of others, I need to spiritual food of Christ's body and Blood given in the context of community.

I think that's important. Christ gave the sacraments to the church, the community of faithful believers. He offered his Body during table fellowship. True, he went off to pray in solitude, but he always came back to the community. We have no record of him eating alone. No room service for him. He found community.

Without the spiritual food of Christ's bread and the support of the community of faith the journey may be too much for us.

We all know people that push ahead, not needing anyone, not needing the church. Rugged individualists. The kind we like in this country until they start stock piling guns in Montana.

In my journey thus far, I have met many a bitter and disillusioned soul, angry that life passed them by. Mad that God had not fulfilled their dreams. Often one can look back and see a life lived in isolation. A life starved of spiritual food.

Now, taking communion or being active in the church isn't going to instantly make life interesting and successful. But it sure can't hurt.

We all want a life that has meaning. A life that matters. A life that leaves a positive mark on the world when we die. Those aren't Christian goals or Christian virtues. I think that is in some cosmic way imprinted on all of us in some way or another regardless of where we live or how we look at our life's journey.

It just doesn't make sense to me to struggle through life without taking advantage of the Gift God has given us, the spiritual food of the body and blood of Christ in the community of the faithful.

When our journey leads us into temptation and sin, the bread of life brings us forgiveness and a repentant heart. When we come on a obstacle that we can not lift and move ourselves, God's grace either moves the obstacle or brings us peace in choosing another path. When we are tired, God in the person of our brothers and sisters, carry us on. When we see the weary and downtrodden, God's mercy strengthens us to carry him on. He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

We can not face life alone. Your very presence in this place, at this time, inexorably alters the future of the world. Standing alone in a desert leaves footprints in the lives of all you have touched in the past.

As any of you who have experienced the loss of a child prior to birth knows, even without taking a breath, the child changes the world. She changes small circle of family and friends, but her impact ripples out as people interact with these changed family and friends. Every life changes the world. Long journey or short, we leave our mark on the trail for others to see and to be changed.

For me, realizing the interconnectedness of all life, drives me back into the shelter of my community of faith, to eat my fill of the grace of God and to be strengthened for the journey.

Get up and eat, otherwise, the journey will be too much for you. Jesus is the bread of life. Whoever comes to him will never be hungry.