Sourdough Starter: An Example of Transformation

I have been reflecting on how we begin life as a lump—just like a sourdough starter–that is endowed with hidden potentialities that enable us to transform into active agents of change.

Baha’u’llah has announced:

“The companions of God are, in this day, the lump that must leaven the peoples of the world. They must show forth such trustworthiness, such truthfulness and perseverance, such deeds and character that all mankind may profit by their example.”¹

A sourdough starter is composed of a diverse array of microorganisms that occur naturally in the environment and unitedly transform two simple ingredients, flour and water, into bread. These invisible creatures multiply as they feed on the flour and water, enabling enzymes to unbind and change the proteins’ structures, realigning themselves into a web-like chain that creates a strong tapestry of air woven with fibres. When this community of varied microorganisms has doubled the flour-water mixture’s original height, it has reached its peak strength as a leavening force and is now ready to create a loaf of bread. Each loaf is like a vibrant, unified community that’s been transformed by individuals who serve as leaven, bringing the bread of life to humanity, gradually giving rise to a divine civilization.

Sourdough starter requires being consistently fed the best quality of flour and the purest quality of water so that its microorganisms can multiply and gain in strength.Just like these microscopic beings, our souls need to be properly nourished every day in order to grow in spiritual strength. Reciting the Writings of God and observing obligatory prayer are the primary sources of sustenance for the soul. They are the means by which our hearts draw nearer to God with greater love; love for God being the fire which attracts the spiritual forces. 

This analogy helps me think about what’s required of my own spiritual growth to become as leaven for the Cause of God. If my soul is not fed every day through prayer and meditation grounded in the Word of God, outwardly I may seem healthy, but inwardly I am depriving, even starving, my soul of the nourishment it needs to tap into those spiritual forces which alone “change a gnat into an eagle.”² When I consciously strive to be steadfast in my love for God, to purify and detach my heart from the transitory things of this world, and work to build a divine civilization with others, I am like one of these microorganisms endowed with a leavening force. My soul then becomes a repository of the Holy Spirit as an “agent of change.” The Holy Spirit may be comparable to the force of carbon dioxide that stretches the gluten strands, enabling my soul to grow and mature, much like how a loaf of bread comes into being.

Generating these inherent forces within our souls may be likened to the fermentation process when the dough is being stretched, folded and given time to rise. The leavening power within the dough is activated through this process; if the dough is left to just sit there, the bread does not nearly rise to its fullest capacity. It is similar to treading the path of faith whereby we must cleanse ourselves “from all that is earthly..”³ removing undesirable tendencies and habits, attitudes and behaviors, allowing ourselves to be “a permeating and vivifying influence that could inspire others to arise and overcome entrenched patterns of divisiveness, conflict, and contest for power, so that the highest aspirations of humanity could ultimately be achieved.”⁴

We are being called upon to sever ourselves from a mere materialistic pursuit of life that fills our hearts with more love for the things of the world, including worshiping ourselves, than for God. We are being summoned by Baha’u’llah to distinguish ourselves with an exalted standard of spiritual conduct in every possible way so that we may generate, channel and canalize the forces of the Spirit–like the microorganisms in a starter–and create a new and regenerative life in the body of mankind: 

“The challenge facing you at this important gathering is to consider how you can become this leaven, an example to masses of people who are desperately seeking somewhere to turn for spiritual help.”⁵

This summons implies that we must wholeheartedly strive to root out those destructive habits, addictions, tendencies or patterns of thinking and behaviours inherited from our lives. When we are mindful to free ourselves from the material distractions of this age (such as shopping, scrolling, gaming, binging, etc.) and replace them with choices and time spent dedicated to life’s twofold moral purpose of transforming both our inner life and society around us, we start to generate the inherent spiritual forces within our souls. 

I believe that detachment is the key quality necessary to revolutionize our lives as a leavening force:

“Consider how meal needeth leaven to be leavened with. Those souls that are the symbols of detachment are the leaven of the world.” ⁶

This revolutionary approach requires us not to follow the norms of the materialistic societies in which we live that are incessantly focused on promoting one’s lower nature, the ego, or the self. Baha’u’llah is counselling humanity to subdue its insistent self: to have a greater desire for God’s good pleasure rather than our own. The ego insidiously asserts itself as a barrier between becoming leaven in these common ways: complaining or giving excuses; being right; taking a situation personally; being separate or superior; keeping control; wanting attention.⁷ As we become aware of these barriers and strive to attach our hearts more and more to God’s Will for our lives, we become a positive, integrative and leavening force.

Just like the leaven for making sourdough bread is always able to be regenerated, even if it has to start all over again with a new beginning, so also is our life “..a succession of tests and achievements, of falling short and of making new spiritual advances.”⁸ To become as leaven requires rising above and beyond the inevitable setbacks and choosing to be continually regenerated by the food of the spirit until we are strong enough to effect that positive change around us.

The Universal House of Justice offers us five ways to be as leaven within a framework for action. It says:

“Who else can be the leaven through which the peoples of the world can discover a new way of life, a pathway to enduring peace? Extend then to everyone the hand of friendship, of common endeavour, of shared service, of collective learning, and advance as one.”⁹

Each one of these actions has a social element of interconnectedness with others, very similar to how the microorganisms actively work together as the agents of change when mixed in flour and water.

The Universal House of Justice also provides the guiding light that encourages us during this transitional age:

“Pregnant indeed are the years looming ahead of us all. The twin processes of internal disintegration and external chaos are being accelerated every day and are inexorably moving towards a climax… The Community of the Most Great Name, the leaven that must leaven the lump, the chosen remnant that must survive the rolling up of the old, discredited, tottering Order and assist in the unfoldment of a new one in its stead, is standing ready, alert, clear-visioned, and resolute…” ¹⁰

May we each see ourselves as these essential microorganisms that are being revived and serving as leaven through the continual guidance of the House of Justice and transformative spirit of Baha’u’llah’s Revelation. 

1. Baha’u’llah, Baha’i Sacred Writings [↩]
2. Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of the Divine Plan [↩]
3. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Iqan [↩]
4. The Universal House of Justice, 28 November 2023 message to the Baha’is of the world [↩]
5. The Universal House of Justice, 20 July 2000 message to the friends gathered at the Asian International Youth Conference [↩]
6. Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah [↩]
7. The Supreme Remedy, Deborah Walters, p152 [↩]
8. The Universal House of Justice, from A Chaste and Holy Life compilation [↩]
9. The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 2024 message to the Baha’is of the World [↩]
10. The Universal House of Justice, Crisis and Victory compilation [↩]

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Pamela Douglas

Pamela is currently living in Ireland, striving to dedicate the precious days of life to the betterment of the world. When not engaged in community-building endeavours, her favourite pastimes are baking, gardening, listening to Afrobeats, and playing cards with her family.