Money Metaphysical Musings

I love the story, one of the few found in all four Gospels. Jesus feeds 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. I think about it, especially in the light of how a few pieces of food exploded into overflowing baskets .

The scene is set. Thousands of people lounge on the hillside, hungry to hear Jesus’ words of wisdom. For hours, He gives truthful guidance. They’re starved for truth, for the deepest meaning of what it really means to follow God. Jesus has answers.

Then I see Jesus sitting down to think. He must have been exhausted by then. Preaching can be, to put it mildly, tiring. He tells his disciples: “the people here are hungry. I am too! What food do we have?” By that time, I would have been starving.

Remember, we’re looking for a miracle here.

Next, holding the five loaves and two fishes, Jesus utters the most beautiful of prayers: “Thank you, Father.” He blesses them and they are consecrated.

Now, Jesus shares. He doles out the food and it seems to never stop. MORE and MORE food on the way. He smiles, in fact he laughs with it all. He feels the deep joy of giving. And all the people laugh too. They see something wonderful going on.

Sure, Jesus had a crowd in front of him to feed, but don’t we always have someone within our sight who can use an extra bill or two, a meal or a school tuition paid for a student who can’t afford it? The generous soul knows how to see, how to size up a situation and respond.

Finally, Jesus hears a child shouting. “I’m full!” Probably Jesus feels full Himself. So He toasts his disciples, then directs them: “Okay, collect the left overs. We can send them over to the next town.” The men collect and continue to collect. Is there no end, they ask themselves? The baskets are stuffed. Everyone is shocked. A tiny meal became a banquet with everything given.

This story reminds me of a close personal friend who calls herself a Distribution Center. Her faith loves this miracle and she is strengthened by her constant giving from her Center. “I try to sow in love, and love returns,...usually multiplied.

Speaking of multiplication! It was in Lenedra J. Carroll’s deeply spiritual book, The Architecture of All Abundance that I read and felt deeply moved: "Though it varies from year to year, I challenge myself to disperse up to 60 percent of my income, after taxes, to benefit areas other than my own personal gain, primarily humanitarian endeavors. I am aware this constitutes a radical generosity, yet is seems my income expands so exponentially as a result of my commitment that my personal wealth continues to grow rapidly.”

In other words, five loaves and two fishes explode into basket fulls, too heavy for one person to carry, too beautiful to behold

Try it! Consider your ability to multiply your own loaves and two fishes. You could be feeding more than five thousand. You could be feeding the world.