A friend from California once said, "You can't survive on licking bread. You must get into the Word!" I found this arresting and was moved to turn that little quote into a poem called, "The Ballad of the Bread Lickers." In my mind's eye I see a Dr. Seuss-like character traveling over the countryside until he encounters this strange village...

Twas a cold wintry day
As I entered the city
My feet growing weary
My stomach quite hungry

A kind bony family
Asked me to stay
In their cozy blue cottage
For a week and a day

Dinner time came
And with glad rested feet
I sat at the table
So happy to eat

The bustle was joyful
The prayer soon said
We sat ‘round a dish
Filled with fluffy white bread

I waited my turn
Then grabbed a big piece
Opened my mouth
To sink in with my teeth

Then out of the blue
Came a shout and a whack
The hostess—she glared
And said, “Put that bread back!”

“In our little village
We make eating quicker
We don’t take bites
So they call us bread-lickers

“In chewing and swallowing
We just don’t believe
It takes too much time
Too much work to achieve

“Instead we just lick
Faster than TV dinner
We don’t like to digest
Even though we’ll grow thinner”

With that I was angry
And pushed back the table
“You guys are insane
This is worse than a fable!”

I left the blue house
Abhorring their suggestion
‘Till I found a place
Who believed in digestion

It was ten years later
When I came back
To visit that place
Whose teeth knew no plaque

When I entered the village
Can you guess what I found?
That bread-licking hamlet
Was now a ghost town

So that is my ballad
And I hope you will see
The story’s not true
But the lesson’s for thee

When you study God’s Word
Don’t inhale with a lick
But pour yourself in
Till the truth starts to stick

Give time to the Word
Let it muse let it sink
Let it fill up your heart
Let it move you to think!

And when you are old
And your taste buds go dull
Though your waist may be thin
Your heart will be full!