Cast Thy Bread Upon the Waters

In the book of Ecclesiastes we find this teaching: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days” (Ecclesiastes 11:1). The associated scripture help says this: “This phrase has traditionally been understood as a metaphor to act generously to others without expecting immediate return and generosity may be repaid over time.” I love that idea—to literally cast bread into the ocean, we would never expect to see it again. To give bread to those in need we should not worry about getting repaid, but ultimately we will find that in the end we are. We should serve and love and do what is right without expectations of being repaid, though ultimately we will find that we are. President Monson used the phrase, for example, to teach that in missionary work “the seeds of testimony frequently do not at once take root and flower.” He related how he once received a phone call from someone who asked if he was related to an Elder Monson who had served in the New England Mission. President Monson related, “I answered that such was not the case. The caller introduced himself as a Brother Leonardo Gambardella and then mentioned that an Elder Monson and an Elder Bonner called at his home long ago and bore their personal testimonies to him. He had listened but had done nothing further to apply their teachings. Subsequently he moved to California where, after thirteen years, he again found the truth and was converted and baptized. Brother Gambardella then asked if there were a way he could reach these elders who had first visited with him, that he might express to them his profound gratitude for their testimonies, which had remained with him.” President Monson was able to locate the missionaries who had taught this man and connect them with one who had originally rejected their testimonies. They surely thought that their efforts had been fruitless, but in the end they found that they hadn’t been. To cast our bread upon the waters, we serve and love and testify without concern for outcomes or what we get out of it. And in the end blessings will come from it in time. George Q. Cannon summarized it this way, “We cannot say what good will follow from our exertions, though very feeble and like bread cast upon the waters, yet if we perform the duties devolving upon us in the Spirit of the Lord, and pray that His blessing may attend them, great results will follow to us and others.”  

            Elder Gerrit Gong also used this verse in a recent general conference. He taught, “A second promise of Easter and our Lord’s Atonement is that, spiritually, ‘all things shall be restored to their proper order.’ This spiritual restoration reflects our works and desires. Like bread upon the water, it restores ‘that which is good,’ ‘righteous,’ ‘just,’ and ‘merciful.’ No wonder the prophet Alma uses the word restore 22 times as he urges us to ‘deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually.’” Thus we can say that the Savior Himself cast His bread upon the water through His atoning sacrifice, the effect of which is still restoring that which is good to those who come unto Him. His sacrifice was not done for some immediate reward for Himself, but He did it to bring blessings to all of God’s children throughout eternity. Perhaps then this phrase from Ecclesiastes can remind us of the what we do to commemorate that sacrifice as we partake of bread and water in His name. He figuratively cast His bread upon the waters to bring us salvation, and we literally partake of bread and water to remember Him and to receive the blessings His atoning sacrifice offers us. He declared, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst…. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:35, 51). When He fed the groups of thousands of people with bread, He was not looking for a reward for Himself but sought to bless all those who would come unto Him. And when He sacrificed His own life, He was not seeking His own but sought to figuratively cast His bread—even Himself—upon the waters to ultimately provide redemption for all mankind.