By Bread Alone: A Baker’s Reflections of Hunger, Longing, and the Goodness of God

Vanderslice (We Will Feast), founder of the Edible Theology Project, uses the metaphor of baking bread to reflect on life and faith. Bread is central to the author’s life (she is a baker), and she also sees it as a tool to “heal our relationship to the body of Christ and to our own bodies.” In this homespun narrative, the notion of “Wonder Bread” religion—“cheap, industrialized, lacking nourishment and flavor”—contrasts with healthy bread as a source of spiritual nourishment. As well, Vanderslice analyzes the symbolic value of bread in the Bible, particularly its role in the Eucharist, highlighting the way its ingredients of flour, water, salt, and yeast are transformed into a singular substance in the same way as life’s challenges transform a human soul. Tracing key passages of her life—including obsessive calorie-counting during a childhood pursuit of ballet, landing her first baking job, and launching a short-lived bread business—Vanderslice paints a rich picture of hopes ignited and pursued, and makes a case that even amid hunger, loneliness, and a modern fear of carbs, bread can serve as an apt symbol to help Christians commune with God and appreciate life. Count it a satisfying offering that will prove good medicine for the hungry soul. (Feb.)