Food For Everyone: Read Matt 15:32-39
Contemplation
And still they keep coming and coming. For three days, now, ever since the foreign woman’s daughter was healed, the people have been coming. The dry ground around us is all broken up and covered by thousands of people: pressing, eager, shouting, pushing, praying.
The sounds and smells of people all packed together are unbelievable – sweat, dirt, grime, muck. But Jesus sees there are other needs, too. People are running out of food. He asks the disciples to feed them. They think he’s joking. “With what? We may be fishers, but we can’t fish in a desert!” Jesus asks them what they can find. “Seven loaves and a few little fish”. I watch and listen as Jesus tells his disciples to call people together and get them sitting down. What is he doing? Once everything is quiet, he takes the bread and fish and prays a prayer of blessing and thanksgiving for God’s gifts. And then…. Then he tells the disciples to hand them out. They start giving out food, and go on…and on….and on. Eventually everyone has enough to eat and… what’s this? LEFTOVERS! Seven basketfuls.
I push my way through the crowds. What do I hear, smell, see?
I talk to Jesus, the disciples and the crowds. What do they say?
What does the bread and fish smell, taste like?
When do I think a job is too big, even for God?