Slicing Bread

One Sabbath I was preparing for potluck dinner after church. A young woman approached and asked, “Is there anything I can do to help?” She was new to our congregation, having just married one of our beloved young bachelors.

Not being one to turn down assistance, I asked her to slice a loaf of bread that I had brought. She smiled and agreed, so I supplied her with a knife and cutting board. After I had put food on the table, I returned to see how the young woman was doing. On the table was a beautifully sliced loaf of bread, each slice being cut perfectly uniform and straight. I exclaimed, “Wow! You are really good at slicing bread.

It looks so perfect!” One of my friends came along and echoed what I had just said. I continued finishing up with the food preparation.

Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw the young woman’s husband had joined her in the kitchen. His arm was around her. I overheard him softly exclaim, “They like the way you slice bread!” She responded with a big smile.

It surprised me that our offhand comments about how she sliced bread had brought them such joy. It was then that I realized that I was now one of the older women in the church, and my words had the ability to affirm other women.

Growing up in the church, I had often been admonished to avoid ugly, hurtful words. The analogies of the toothpaste and the nails in the fence were ever in my mind. Toothpaste can never be put back into its tube once it’s squeezed out.

We can never take back words we have spoken.

Nails pulled out of a fence still leave holes in the wood.

Whatever words we speak always leave some type of an impression. We must be careful not to speak hurtful words. The experience with the young woman and her sliced bread that day gave me a new revelation about being a mature Christian. My words could affirm others, not only what they do but their personal worth —who they are. I’m not talking about self-serving flattery; I’m talking about Christlike and Christ-inspired love and affirmation. Today I pray for the Spirit of Christ to be in the words I speak to others. Let me not just refrain from derogatory words but choose to speak words of affirmation and love.

Marsha Hammond-Brummel