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As the children gather I place a rectangular basket on the floor. To begin our discussion, I ask, "What kind of basket is this?" Knowing children are very concrete, literal thinkers, I am not surprised by their initial response: "It's a woven basket."

"Yes, it is woven," I agree.

Then, in an effort to get them to think about what its use might be, I ask, "What do you suppose I have inside the basket?" As their silence stretches beyond my comfort zone I prod, "Any guesses?" No one answers, so I open the lid.

"It's a picnic!" several children announce as they see dishes and a red-and-white checked tablecloth.

"Yes, it's a picnic," I affirm, "and this is a picnic basket. I thought you might like to share a breakfast picnic with me. Let's see what we have in here."

I unfurl the tablecloth, then set out a bowl of grapes and a plate with a single donut. "Gee," I say with an overtone of confusion, "there are plenty of grapes, but only one donut. And there are ... (I take a quick count of noses) ... ten of you! What are we going to do?"

"We can share the donut," the children suggest.

"That's a great idea!" I answer. I ask one of the children to pass out napkins; then we pass the food around, each child taking a few grapes and breaking off a piece of the donut. I am pleased to note that everyone is very careful to take only a small piece to ensure there is enough for everyone. Consequently, more than half of the donut is left when it comes back to me. I take another piece and pass it around again.

"Why do we eat?" I ask next.

"Because donuts are GOOD!"

"Because things taste good."

"Because we're hungry."

The latter is the response I was hoping for. "Yes, we eat for all of those reasons. We eat because our bodies need food to create bone and muscle, and to give us energy. When we don't eat, we get hungry. That's our body's way of telling us it's time to eat.

"So," I continue, "have you been enjoying summer?" This brings affirmative nods but no vocal responses; I seem to have an unusually quiet mix of children this morning.

"How many of you have been separated from good friends this summer because you or they have gone away on vacation?" Numerous hands go up.

"Did you miss your friend a lot?" I ask one of the older kids.

"Yes," she answers; "I was glad to get back so we could play together again."

"It's tough to be separated from good friends. It sort of makes your heart hungry when you're apart, just as our bodies get hungry when we need to eat. I brought these grapes and this donut to try to help us understand something Jesus said. He was speaking to a big crowd of people and told them, 'I am the bread of heaven.' He wasn't talking about bread for physical hunger, but bread for this other kind of hunger, the hunger of the heart.

"All of us have eaten part of the same donut this morning, haven't we?" The children nod agreement.

"So, this single donut has become a part of all of us," I continue. "When Jesus said, 'I am the bread of heaven,' he also said, 'Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have eternal life.' But he wasn't talking about bread like this donut. He was talking about spiritual food, food for the heart.

"Just as we took the donut and grapes into our bodies this morning, Jesus was talking about taking him into ourselves, making his spirit a part of us. When we do that, we are connected to him and to God forever; when we make Jesus a part of who we are, we have a relationship that will never die. And through him, we are all connected to one another. We are the church, the body of Christ. And through us, Jesus reaches out to embrace the world with his love."