All we have with us

Matthew 14:15-21

When evening came, the disciples went to him and said, 'This is a lonely place, and time has slipped by; so send the people away, and they can go to the villages to buy themselves some food.' Jesus replied, 'There is no need for them to go: give them something to eat yourselves.' But they answered, 'All we have with us is five loaves and two fish.'
And he said, "Bring them here to me." Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

There it is again...an example of the way things work for Christ's disciples. Following Jesus leads to an rhythmic flow from inward to outward....from the attention to my own hunger for the food of prayer and stillness to Christ's call to be ready to serve others. The only reason He meets me in stillness is to equip me for some kind of loving action.

I experience my most intense awareness of Christ in solitude...in silence. Dwelling in the divine relationship nourishes me ... an intimate love expands from God...the one who quells earthly fear and pain of heart. However, that expansion of heart then compels me to respond more actively to the hunger of others.

Any fear that prompts me to focus upon my self-proclaimed limits of time, energy or resources is removed if I offer whatever I DO have to Christ's mission. The only reason I am endowed with any good gift, small or large, is that it may somehow enhance someone or some situation outside the confines of MY self and MY situation.

This week we sit again with Jesus disciples as he tells them to feed the crowd with all that they have. They see all that they have as finite...limited. He sees all that they have as the ingredients he can use to meet the needs of all...and with leftovers to boot.