The Alchemical Process ~ An Allegory Part 2 (Part 1 here.)
What was the plate meant to hold? All day she thought about it. That night she dreamed again. In the morning, not remembering the story of the dream but remembering the meaning, she knew what she had to do.
She took grain and with her own hands ground it into flour. She took yeast and fresh milk and butter and with those ingredients she made dough.
She worked the dough over and over, kneading it with her hands until it was smooth and elastic. When she was satisfied with the texture of the dough, she formed it into a oval and placed it in a clean bowl.
Covering the bowl with a clean cloth, she left the dough to rise in a warm place. She knew that the dough wouldn’t rise if the temperature wasn’t just right so she chose the place very carefully.
Patiently she checked the dough several times before she decided that it had increased in size just the right amount. With her fist she punched the dough in the middle, turned it over and then left it to rise again.
When it was ready to form into loaves, she kneaded it with her hands working it until it was smooth and elastic, and then formed it into smaller sections. When she had shaped it into loaves she placed them into pans, covered them and again left them to rise.
When they were almost ready she turned the oven on. She knew that the loaves had to be left in the oven for the right amount of time and at the right temperature. She didn’t want to burn them. She didn’t want them to be underdone. Finally when the loaves were ready and the oven was hot, she put the loaves into the oven.
When the bread was ready she took the loaves out of the oven. While one of the loaves had fallen while it was baking and was lopsided and smaller than the others, two of the loaves were round and golden and beautiful.
When the loaves were cooled she took a knife and cut a slice of the lop sided loaf and ate it. Even though it looked funny it tasted delicious.
She looked at the three loaves and wondered. What made the difference in the loaf that was lopsided? She didn’t know. She thought about how some of the things she’d made from clay hadn’t worked well either. She realized that even when things didn’t work out the way she wanted them to she could appreciate something about them.
She placed another of the loaves on the beautiful plate and admired it. She invited some of her friends to come and break bread with her.
Watch for A Creativity Story Part 3 Final
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