Leavening

I was feeding my sourdough, contemplating the natural yeast, when I thought of Passover. The Bible says to remove all leaven, a metaphor of removing sin.

For those of you unfamiliar with sourdough, it uses the naturally occurring bacteria in the air as the flour and water to ferment (to some, it might seem rotten). This fermentation creates bubbles in the dough. And it tastes yummy!

I was always a little confused about why sin was related to yeast. As I was feeding my sourdough, I think I finally understand what I never had before: the correlation between leaven and sin.

What we feed grows—that part of the leaven correlation, I understood, but not to the same extent. Evil thoughts come naturally and aren’t bad in and of themselves until we harbor them, feed them, and/or focus on them. Good thoughts grow the same way.

The new understanding is this part, bacteria that causes sourdough to work is naturally occurring. Think about that. Yeah, we all do rotten stuff, none of us are perfect or ever will be. It comes naturally. We can remove all the leaven in the house but the bacteria is still in the air, in other words with the right, or wrong in this case, conditions the bacteria can grow again.

The growth of my sourdough yeast is a good thing. I get yummy, healthy bread with fantastic bubbles that hold butter. The growth of the other kind doesn’t have to be a never-ending cycle. There was a sacrificial lamb….

Go enjoy some sourdough!!