Goodness gracious, there has been so much pain for so many this year. Goodness gracious, where do we start, what can we do? Our pocketbooks feel stretched – even our very sympathy and compassion grows weary – from trying to care for so many who need so much. And yet – stronger than our exasperation – is our desire to do SOMETHING, however small. Just like the little boy who decided to share his lunch.

How about taking advantage of the scooping and pouring and measuring that inevitably happens this time of year? We want to help, we just need an opportunity. Little is simpler – and more profound – than a loaf of homemade bread. Prayers in the measuring. Prayers in the kneading. Prayers in the baking. Prayers in the savoring. Feeding someone who is hungry is an intimate, gracious act.

“How about a little bake sale?” I asked Kerri, Anna. They took it to the staff. “So get a committee and have a little bake sale,” they told me. For those who know her, Brigid Richardson is a committee unto herself. So we became a committee. I laid out a sketchy plan with several holes and Brigid filled them in. Over chips and salsa, we got specific. Morsels for Mercy? Treats to fight tragedy? GOODIES FOR GOOD?

We decided to feel satisfied if we made more than $200.00. I baked my m&m Chocolate Chip Princess Cookies and put them in the freezer. We headed to Walt Disney World for a week and I never worried because Brigid was my committee. We rode “It’s a Small World” at least ten times. We got home late Saturday night.

When I arrived Sunday morning, Brigid stood among piles and stacks of gorgeously-wrapped, lovingly-made desserts and mixes and comfort foods. I was overwhelmed again, but not by tragedy.

YOU brought and bought the pies, cakes, cookies, and soup mixes at folding tables with simple white tablecloths. And yet the generosity you showed in the baking and the buying made it more than a table…more than bread. It became the Lord’s Table. Just like the little boy who decided to share his lunch. We gave the Lord our five loaves and look what He did!

A check is en route to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance for eleven hundred twenty-three dollars — so that those who have lost hope may feel remembered. In the measuring and the kneading and the baking and the savoring they are remembered. I stand overwhelmed.