Every Life Needs an Anchor

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At the end of the Floridsdorf Subway line in Vienna, there is a bakery. I stopped at this bakery often whenever my journeys in the 21st district took me past it at a time that coincided with freshly baked wares. Before I left the area, I had a companion photograph me sitting out front, to remember the memories and to remember their slogan. "Every life needs an anchor", the banner proudly proclaimed. The name of the bakery was Anchor Bread.

This weekend, as we thought and spoke about Christ, I remembered why I loved this bakery so much. Christ is often thought of as the Bread of Life. He is also the Anchor to which we hold fast in the stormy seas of life. He is the living bread, a bread from which when we sup we may no longer hunger because we are filled with sustenance. Every life needs THIS anchor.

I brood sometimes about the rising generation. They seem so obsessed with 'living life' that they run the risk of not living at all. In their haste to feel and experience and get involved in everything, they run the risk of losing the ability to feel at all. They indulge in whatever they like whenever the mood strikes and for whatever reason they imagine. They know no restraint. They know no discipline. They have not learned to distinguish the bread that gives life from breads that ultimately take it.

Anchors keep things from drifting or being cast about on waves of popular opinion or fashion. The bread consumed by our youth is generally only that which is vogue in the moment. They are living in the moment and for the moment, ignorant of, whether purposely or through accident, the true relevance of life. We are not living for the moment. We are living for things much further down the line.

Last week, I gave my first organic chemistry exam. One particular person left after only twenty minutes. When I looked at the exam, I discovered that most of it was blank. I happen to know a bit about this person's personal life, and the energies invested by this person are not into organic chemistry. Sure, this person hopes to be a medical professional, but the priorities and way in which this person uses energy tell me a completely different story. When the storms rage, medicine takes a back seat. This will hurt this person professionally going forward.

Christ keeps us grounded. His bread gives us quality of life. The Master Physician isn't just interested in extending the duration of life but also in giving to men the greatest quality of life possible, now and in eternity. He realizes that minor choices in the moment greatly impact things far removed in space and in time from our present position. Just as when a stone is dropped in still waters, the ripples of each decision echo across the entire surface of our lives. He keeps us grounded. He keeps us fed. He keeps us centered. Every life needs this anchor, especially the people who do not know or do not like the Savior. He died to save them too.