About Bread - and Friendship

More than 30 years ago I found this poem, and I had a friend write it in calligraphy, I framed it, and I gave it to my mom (who is an amazing bread maker). It's been off her wall for awhile, and I haven't been able to internet search it and find it. However, the phrase, "Be gentle when you touch bread, let it not lie uncared for, unwanted," has rolled around in my mind for many years. I was looking for an apron in my mother's linen closet the other day, and because she throws nothing that has sentimental value away, there this was, propped up on its side, in the corner of a shelf. 

Be gentle when you touch bread
Let it not lie uncared for--unwanted
So often bread is taken for granted
There is so much beauty in bread
Beauty of sun and soil, beauty of honest toil
Winds and rain have caressed it,
Christ often blessed it
Be gentle when you touch bread.

I was happy to see the poem, and then Googling it, I found it online. Oh well, the time was now for me to find the entire piece. 

My heart is sad this morning over a broken friendship. One that was nurtured, torn, and forging a new pattern, but one that could not move from the past into the present. Good-byes were sharp, doors slammed, honest words opened old wounds, and no amount of caressing right now, can heal. 

Be gentle with life, with family, with friends, with relationships. 
Let them not go uncared for - 
So often those we love are taken for granted.
There is so much beauty in caring
Beauty of kindling, nurturing, proofing, beauty of honest toil
Good and bad have caressed them
Christ has blessed them
Be gentle when you touch a friend -