Bread Cast Upon The Waters

On Monday this week, as I re-read Part 9 from Haanel, I stopped, because I was really struck by the phrase “return to us like bread cast upon the waters”. Like me you have probably heard that many times over the years, but for the first time I did not simply read over it, I actually acknowledged that even though I have heard it many times, I really did not understand it!

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25. Not only did I affirm it for myself, but for others that I knew needed it. I want to emphasize this point. Whatever you desire for yourself, affirm it for others, and it will help you both. We reap what we sow. If we send out thoughts of love and health, they return to us like bread cast upon the waters; but if we send out thoughts of fear, worry, jealousy, anger, hate, etc., we will reap the results in our own lives. Charles Haanel

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So, I spent quite a bit time pondering the metaphor, and then did some research and found that there are actually several interpretations that vary in how they describe the idea of reaping what we sow, or investing with expectation of return or without expectation of return.

Some people have referenced Ecclesiastes 11:1 where it says “Ship your grain across the sea: after many days you may receive a return.” This suggests it has to do with trade and the possibility of great return or no return as risk is involved. But that did not really resonate with me, so I kept researching.

Others claim that there are older and more original translations that go back to Egypt and a practice of farmers that tossed their grain into the Nile and what happened after. This idea was interesting, researchers thought it was farmers tossing their grain into the fast flowing Nile, almost as an offering.

That just sounded a little weird as a way to describe reaping what we sow, so I read on and then found ideas to me that were the most appropriate and amazing and powerful, and in many ways different than what many suggest.

You see the Nile used to flood its banks every summer and while it did it like clockwork, the farmers never knew the exact timing or how great an area would flood, just that every year the Nile flooded its banks.

So, why is that significant? Because the flooding was a vital part of ancient Egypt and its civilization, because the flooding provided irrigation to crops and left behind nutrient rich soil when the waters receded. As I understand it, what the farmers were doing very deliberately was “planting”, and not simply “hoping”.

They knew that they could cast their seed upon the flooded areas and when the water receded the seed (bread) would then have been left behind in the fertile soil to produce an incredible harvest.

That harvest would never have been possible without the casting during the time when the water covered the land. The seed was not simply cast in hope that maybe something would come back to the farmer. I believe they knew with certainty something would happen, the seed was cast knowing it would produce.

I think that is exactly what I am learning and understanding here. Our thoughts and actions are going to produce a result, it is not a “maybe” they will produce. So, what does that mean? Well, like the ancient farmer on the Nile, it is up to me to be sure I am casting the right seed (bread) upon the water.