Casting Bread Upon the Water

It rained and rained yesterday. I sat in the house, finishing the last touches on my new book proposal. The rain was useful in that I didn't really want to go out in it, though sending my proposal to the agent is always something wrought with fear and trembling. I just know that as soon as I send it, I will find the million mistakes that somehow I missed on my ten thousandth revision. So while I am hardly a procrastinator, I find it very hard to press the "submit" button. Still, with all that rain, I couldn't pretend I had errands to run, thus avoiding the difficult task before me. I just sat there looking woefully at my proposal that I didn't quite dare to send.

And yet, if one never casts the bread upon the water, there is little hope of enticing the beautiful ducks to swim near. If you are an astute reader, you will know that that is not what casting bread upon the waters meant in the original context. While thinking, "Should I submit, or should I not," I became sidetracked wondering about the phrase.  I have often used that phrase, which occurs in Ecclesiastes 11, and only as I wrote it in this paragraph did I realize...I didn't know what that phrase meant! I had always thought of it as generally meaning the more you cast, the more will float back. But now that I think about it, that makes NO sense. Bread, cast upon the water, will get soggy and sink. Bread on the water doesn't float, not for long. No matter how much bread you cast on the water, you will not be likely to get anything even close to your investment back. All these years using that phrase, and I have not used it correctly! In fact, I believe I used that phrase somewhere in my new book...incorrectly.

Ecclesiastes 11:1-3 says, "Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap."

Think about it. If you cast bread on the water, the Bible says you will find it after many days. Why bother casting it then? Why not just hang onto it and you won't have to go searching for it later? Maybe verse 2, gives a clue- after you cast, you are to give a portion for seven or even eight. In other words, cast generously. Why? Because disaster may happen. Ok, now I am more confused. Give generously because disaster may come is counterintuitive. If you think disaster is on the way, hang on to your bread! You might need it! Who is this bozo giving us this advice?

Ecclesiastes is written by Solomon, the "wisest man on earth." Not a bozo...And on top of that, inspired by God. Definitely not a bozo.

Well maybe verse 3 will clear it up: "he who observes the wind will not sow...."

HMMM. I think I am beginning to get it. If we are sitting around watching the wind, worried about that disaster mentioned in verse 2, we might not sow. We might not do what we should do. We might not help others, as in throwing them bread. We might be too worried about the future or our own safety to care for the needs of others. We might be too fearful of what might happen to do the things we ought to do even in using our gifts and callings. The implication is we should cast the bread despite the likelihood of failure and disaster!

And then, the final portion of verse 3, "and he who regards the clouds will not reap."  If we spend our time fearing and worrying and watching for the disaster and havoc that the world could bring, we don't sow, and even more tragically, we don't reap. 

It may not be wise in a worldly sense to toss bread out on the water in the midst of impending disaster, or to be generous when we may need those resources, but that is exactly what we are called upon to do in the Christian life. Ultimately, to sow generously in the face of uncertainty, we must trust God to do the impossible. He can and even does return the offering back upon us in bountiful grace.

I pondered Solomon's words, and hit "submit", sending my proposal to the agent.

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They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. (Psalms 126:5, 6 KJV)