12 Wicker Baskets

Have you ever felt like you want to help, but there's nothing you can do? You want to give, but there's nothing for you to give? In this week's gospel reading the Apostles are worried about the crowd, the lack of food, and the distance from any useable food supply. The only solution that makes any sense is to send the crowd away early enough so that each one can take care of themselves.

That is their advice to Jesus. (The absurdity of anyone giving advice to our Lord is an interesting thought to ponder, perhaps another time...) 

Jesus's response is "Give them some food yourselves." You know the rest of the story. What I would like to bring attention to is the fact that the leftover scraps filled 12 baskets. Spiritual math is very different from any other math: 5 loaves of bread plus 2 fish minus enough to feed over 5 thousand people equals 12 baskets full of leftover food. 

Perhaps this thought is worth contemplating: love and mercy are like the flame of a candle - the more you share, the more there is. This is a spiritual truth, which is greater than any law of physics, because Heaven and Earth will pass away, but the words of the Lord will never pass away........

+ Theophilus