Forget the gas, let’s focus on dough.  I went grocery shopping for the missus the other day and almost had a conniption near the cantaloupe.  There was a table of bread set up as an obstacle course in the produce section.  It couldn’t be avoided.  In large letters hovering over the wheat and rye, like a cat-walker in a dog park, was the word “SALE.”  When I saw the price I realized why they put the bread in the produce section.  The bakers were too embarrassed to keep it in their department!  Who knew that bread would “rise” at the same time dough was falling?  Fact is the dollar is swooning faster than the countenance of a Hummer dealer.

But let’s face it, bread loaves are still loafing on the shelves of most stores within jogging distance.  It may take a second mortgage to buy them, but they’re still there.  Even at our worst we’re living better than the 854 million people living in the developing world.  Bread for the World says every five seconds 16 million children will die from hunger.  That’s a statistic worth remembering when we stand near the sale table in the produce section.  Grapes of wrath will never feed an empty spirit.  Being thankful for what we have will go a long way no matter what the economy looks like.

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful” (Colossians 4:2 NIV).