What A World of meaning there is in the simple petition "Give us this day our daily bread." Christ Jesus included this short request in the prayer he taught his disciples—a prayer said in many languages and countries around the world.
Was the Master teaching us to ask for enough bodily nourishment for today, for all time, for all of humanity? Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy offers a deeply spiritual interpretation of the Lord's Prayer. It interprets the line "Give us this day our daily bread" as "Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections."Science and Health, p. 17
Grace is a word with lovely connotations. It points us to an understanding of God's unfailing love, of His wisdom and truth. These embrace what we need for one day and every day, leading thought beyond just the material food important to mortal existence. This spiritual food indeed feeds the "famished affections," the starved intellect, the lonely heart, the forlorn and seemingly unloved child, the neglected elder, the hungry masses, the war-weary and hopeless. In another of her writings, Mrs. Eddy comments, "The good in being, even the spiritually indispensable, is your daily bread. Work and pray for it."The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p 196
