A number of years ago, while I was on vacation in Canada, I was introduced to my mother’s cat.

Mean is not a strong enough word for this feline version of Satan. Sharp teeth, long claws and an attitude of proportions that are too large to describe.

The one thing about this cat is how enormous it is. She looks like a black and white basketball with legs. This cat will eat constantly if you let her. It walks between your feet, follows you everywhere, and won’t let up unless you feed it.

It is so bad, my mom had to keep all food products out of this cat’s reach or the cat would eat it. And I mean anything. Bread, fruits, vegetables, meat, cheese, literally anything. The cat is so big, it can’t even lay on its side like a normal cat would. It has to rock itself from side to side until gravity allows it to fall onto one side or the other. And when she finally falls over on one side she rolls completely around. And watching her get up is really sad.

I asked my mom why this cat eats so much and she told me that when the cat was born, it had been abandoned by its mother and had almost starved to death. Once the kitten was found, it was fed and never stopped eating.

Psychologically, the cat lives in constant fear of being hungry and will literally eat itself to death if given the opportunity. She will never escape the trauma of almost dying from starvation.

The same can be the case with humans. There is a story of a group of orphans in World War II who were discovered after the US began liberating Europe. They were skin and bones … hadn’t eaten anything of substance for who knows how long.

The Americans fed the children and they were put in an orphanage, but even though they were well fed and recovered from their lack of food, they never could get over being hungry. They could not sleep at night in fear of going hungry the next day.

Finally, in order to get these kids to sleep, they were given a piece of bread and were allowed to take it bed with them but told not to eat it. The mere presence of the next day’s bread in their hands allowed them to sleep in peace.

So, the question we have to answer is this: Can we live a normal life, one free of the fear of starvation of all the aspects of life if we live it without the Living Bread of Life? Can we live in spiritual fullness, without the presence of Jesus in our lives? Is our faith strong enough to believe that Christ’s body and blood are the foundation of His spiritual presence in our lives when we come to the communion table?

In our situation with this current fire disaster, we must address both the physical and spiritual meaning of the Bread of Life. Physical food for the hungry and the spiritual food in Holy Communion.

Both are offered this Sunday at First Lutheran Church as we distribute much needed supplies in our food cupboard and celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion in our worship service.

Please join us to hear more about the Bread of Life. Worship begins at 11 a.m. followed by lunch for all, and then our monthly food cupboard.

Chris DelCol is pastor of First Lutheran Church in Lucerne, Calif. The church is located at 3863 Country Club Drive, telephone 707-274-5572. Email Pastor Chris at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..