In Los Angeles, a bakery run by former gang members has reopened nearly a decade after the original one was destroyed by fire. It's part of Homeboy Industries, a rehabilitation program headed by Father Gregory Boyle, who's worked with young people from more than 600 street gangs in Los Angeles.
One of the ex-gang members interviewed, a recently-released, tattooed man, spoke about what he was receiving from his work in the bakery. He spoke of "patience", the patience that comes from kneading bread dough. He said that standing there, working the dough with his hands was "like meditation". What this young man said is an insight that has been lost, but was once part and parcel of the monastic life - chanting a Psalm in the rhythm of the hands working the dough. Kosher food is often prepared the same way.
Working with one's hands - whether it's kneading bread dough, gardening, carpentry - is a wonderful opportunity to think, to pray, to open oneself to oneself, and to God. At its best the monastic movement embodied this, with monks working as smiths, wrights, farriers, cooks, farmers - always praying, sometimes in silence, sometimes chanting a Psalm as they went on with their work. I do this when I mow our lawn (shoveling the walks in winter is another matter; I'm usually going through a constant litany about how cold I am), run the vacuum cleaner, sort laundry, and do other tasks about the house (which, my wife will tell you and I readily confess, I do not do as often as I should or as is needed). It is indeed a way to learn patience, and to let the body do whatever it is doing, and allow the mind a chance to roam free, or to open oneself in prayer.
I do not know what lies ahead for this young man. I do know that the ministry of this priest has already graced one life - mine. By showing me that the best lessons are still applicable, and the best insights are still available to those who open themselves to them, I know that God has worked through this ministry.
