The last time I saw empty shelves in a grocery store was in 2000 when I was in Belarus. The Soviet Union collapsed a few years earlier and capitalism was having a rough time in the former communist country. I saw empty shelves and egg shortages. I ate in dark restaurants because of electricity shortages. I never thought I’d see any of that again.

Then came March 2020 and Covid-19.

And the essentials were wiped out at the grocery store. Governors decide what workers are essential and non-essential. Banks choosing which small businesses were essential enough to pass on federal money. Grocery stores decide what items have a limit of 2 and no more.

It didn’t take long for the panic to catch fire. Now consumers were deciding by their purchases – what is essential when our lives are being threatened by a virus.

I was surprised – maybe you were too – that the consuming public decided that the most valuable possession to secure was – toilet paper. Beans were always a surplus but overnight, toilet paper became a coveted commodity. More valuable than a bottle of wine, a gallon of ice cream or a savory steak.  Those you can always find. But the paper aisle was a ghost town.

Ironically, in my first week of shelter-in-place I stumbled across a book I got as a gift. It was a coffee table book of useless but interesting information. The front cover, right in the middle has this question, “What did we use before toilet paper?”

Since the aisles were still empty, that story became essential reading for me.

I discovered that, technically, TP was not invented until 1857. Before that the Romans used a sponge on the end of a stick, the Vikings used discarded wool, the Eskimo’s used moss and water and the French royalty used lace. The British lords used pages from old books. That’s why the Old Farmer’s Almanac was printed with a hole in the top corner of every page – for later use in the outhouse. So glad I was born AFTER 1857.

Who knew in March of 2020, that Toilet Paper as a commodity would rise to such an elevated status? It was like the gold rush for a good flush.

I am fascinated in how this crisis unveiled what we consider essential. Or health care workers were always essential, but now they’re getting the recognition they have always deserved. I thank my grocery store workers every chance I get because they have become essential.

One of the blessings of difficult times is their ability to force us to scale down and rediscover what is truly essential.

What are YOUR essentials?

We say our health is essential. “At least you have your health.” Have you heard that before? Some people spend a lot of time tending to the status of their bodies – eating right, exercising. I’ve tended to my body a little too much – I’ve gained 6 lbs. during my shelter-in-place…it’s more like feeding-my-face. I need to get on my bike more.

Tending to our health. That’s up there near the top of the essentials. Then there’s the mind. What we know, what we think. Tending to the mind. “The mind is a terrible thing to waste.” We have at our fingertips more information and knowledge than ever before. We can lean just about anything from Youtube or TV. I’ve watched so many shows on living in Alaska, I’m certain I could start my own colony from scratch above the arctic circle.

We invest a lot of attention, time and money enriching our bodies and our minds. But we are so much more than just a body and a mind. We are more than a physical and intellectual container.

In Ecclesiastes 3:11 we read “God has set eternity in the human heart.” That means we are more than a body and a mind – we are spirit. We are hardwired for eternity.

Your spiritual well-being is an essential, as much as, even more so that your physical and intellectual well-being.

Jesus knew that. He talked about it all the time. The was a crowd of people following Him who found themselves hungry and too far from the villages. After Jesus feeds them miraculously, he turns to them and says, “I am the bread – OF LIFE.” What does he mean?

“Just like bread is essential for your physical life, I am essential for your spiritual life.”

Photo by Mae Mu on Unsplash

There are a lot of things we think are essential to living a satisfied life that really aren’t essential – and we find that out when a crisis strips us of them. That’s when we know what is REALLY essential.

A Washington Post columnist, Marc Thiessen, outspoken in his politics, discovered his aging mother was diagnosed with COVID-19. He hesitated to mention his grief and concern on social media. His posts were mostly political. But because he was tending to his spiritual life, and at his wife’s urging, he tweeted “My 91-year-old mom is in the hospital in New York with covid-19. I’d be grateful for your prayers for her”. And he hit “send.”

In his words, that’s when “the spiritual floodgates opened.”

According to Twitter’s analytics, 2.6 million people saw his tweet and more than 254,000 engaged with it — reading, liking, responding or sharing it with others. He said, “There is no analytic to show how many stopped to pray, but if even a fraction did, then my family has been blessed beyond measure.”

As a teenager, his mother fought with the Polish underground during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis. Somehow through social media, word of her illness traveled across the Atlantic. The Warsaw Uprising Museum tweeted: “A hero of the Warsaw Uprising. We are thinking of you and hoping for her speedy recovery!” Suddenly, Polish Twitter swung into action, as prayers poured in from the Polish people everywhere.¹

Spiritual bread is essential to life.

So Jesus also says that He is the bread sent from heaven. (John 6:51) This is one of the many points at which Jesus is unique when we compare Him to other religious figures. He is the bread sent from heaven. What’s He saying? God sent Him from heaven as the bread of life.

Many people are podcasting, preaching, writing books telling us how to be a spiritual person, with techniques and secrets and mindfulness and whole entire religious systems. All of them are designed and devised by men and women.

But here, Jesus said the bread He offers isn’t man-made. It comes from God in Heaven to humanity on earth through Him. So He is more than a carpenter, more than a teacher – He is a revealer.

Now what gives Him the right to say that? He argued with the religious establishment over than very question. And said, “I know God because I am from Him and He sent me.” (John 7:29) Bold claims, right?

But if it’s true, then of course He knows how to know God, and how to know Him personally. And that’s why He is essential. Because if I lose everything, but I know God personally – that is the only essential I need.

Like swallowing food to survive and thrive physically, following Jesus is the essential to surviving and thriving spiritually. Body, mind. Spirit.

He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29

This has been the biggest adventure of my life – learning from Him. Learning to understanding myself and my life, my career, my kids, my money, my friendships – in view of God’s love. Following His principles – for living life at its best.

My closest friends know that any meal – I’m the bread guy. I’m the guy at the table watching and counting for the exact moment when each person gets one bread roll. As soon as the last person picks it up, I’m legally allowed to have a second. Restaurant rules. And I don’t hesitate. I can ignore the entire conversation waiting for that moment to legally grab my second roll.

I keep watching because when one more person grabs a second roll, I’m allowed a third. I know – that’s pretty embarrassing. But that’s just the way I roll.

I promise to edit that out. If my wife has half of a roll asleep on her tiny plate for too long – it’s mine. And she knows it. She just shoves it over to me. I just – love – bread.

Spiritually speaking, what do your shelves look like – empty? Full?  Are you stocked with the essentials?

Consider learning from Jesus. I quoted in this post from the gospel according to John. Google it or it pick it up today and read some of it. It may be the start you need for the week.

Another great place to start is found below – the Next Step. Click on it and see if it helps you personally. If you’re interested in more, click on my DeepDive.

And of course, you’re always welcome to sign up to receive just this weekly post in your email. Just click on the one of the buttons to the right to sign up to receive weekly posts. You’ll be glad you did.

All this talk about bread is making me hungry. I think there’s cinnamon raisin bread somewhere. So, remember: life is best – when your shelves are full of the Bread of Life.

¹ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/23/i-tweeted-about-my-mothers-covid-19-diagnosis-then-spiritual-floodgates-opened/?arc404=true

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