Proving Bread

“Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.” (Zechariah 2:13 NIV)

I enjoy making bread--even though it is a messy, time-consuming process.  First I mix the ingredients. Then I let it prove or rest for a few hours. I cover it with a damp towel and place it in a warm corner of the kitchen. This first proving allows the yeast to ferment. The gluten in the flour swells to form a network of fine strands. This makes the dough extensible and gives it structure. After this first resting period, I knead the dough again and shape it into loaves. Then I let the dough prove again. In the next hour, the shaped loaves double in size. The dough is fully formed and ready to be baked in the oven.

A large part of bread making is waiting for the dough to prove. It is in the resting period that the bread enlarges. Similarly, it is in the stillness, in the proving stages, that we grow. Study can be a form of worship. Reflection and mindfulness make us extensible, integrating the physical and the metaphysical. Contemplation allows God’s Spirit within us to rise, forming unseen connections between our neural networks. This results in deeper communion, expansive awareness, and clarity of purpose.  As we wait in reverence and silence, God completes his work in us.