So today we look at the story of Jesus feeding the masses.
And it's one of the,
I think,
Most famous stories that we do read in the Bible.
We see that Jesus wants to break away from all these masses,
The throngs of people who are starting to believe in him.
And everybody wants to see a miracle or something amazing happen.
And so he gets onto a boat and travels across the sea.
And the people know where he's going,
So they follow him.
And when he gets that side,
He sees that,
You know,
The people are still there.
And there's a lot of grass.
So he tells them to sit down.
He doesn't chase them away.
He then asks one of his disciples,
How much is there to eat and how will we feed them?
And the disciple tells him,
You know,
200 days worth of work for one man won't feed everybody.
It'll only give them a little bit.
Jesus was just testing this man.
When they then gather the food,
They see that five loaves of bread and two fish.
And Jesus says,
Start handing out the food.
And lo and behold,
There is enough for everybody.
Even more so,
12 baskets of food are gathered afterwards.
Now,
There are so many different ways that we can look at this story from a metaphysical point of view.
It can be said that all these people are thoughts,
Thoughts in our minds that want to be acknowledged,
Thoughts that we have to think.
And we see that sometimes we just want to get away and no matter where we go,
These thoughts follow us.
So we can also then think about the five loaves of bread and the two fish as the seven chakras,
The seven main energy points of the body.
And the 12 baskets that is left over after everything has been fed and Jesus told them to sit down,
Calm down.
The 12 baskets can be the 12 gifts of the Spirit.
Now,
We also see in the letter to the Ephesians that it's written that every person needs to live a full life according to what you get.
And together it is such a beautiful story.
It tells us that Jesus,
God,
Gives us everything we need in the way that we need it.
And that's such an important thing for me.
God gives us everything,
But not necessarily in the way that we want it or the way that we think is best.
I always talk about becoming still and just listening,
Being this open trap for God's thoughts.
And with all these thoughts that we have racing around in our heads,
It is so easy to get distracted and then to put God in a box.
No one person will experience God in the same way.
And there are groups and entities and people who want that to be the focus that,
I don't see God the same as you do,
Or you don't see God the same way that I do.
So inherently you are wrong because my God and my expression of God is the only way.
Isn't that silly?
No one person will see a chair the same way.
So then how can you want to box God into your limited point of view?
I think that is something that we really need to focus on and acknowledge,
That there are so many different ways of expression of our spirituality of God.
God is everywhere.
God is everything,
Including you and I.
God is inside of us.
So then who are we to say that your expression of God is different and then inherently it is wrong?
What if we start to celebrate these differences and maybe even learn from each other on a global scale?
There would be so much joy in the world,
I believe.
Now if we get back to the letter to the Ephesians and the story of God feeding the masses,
5,
000 men,
Not counting the women and children,
If we listen to that and we see that we are being called to each in their own way fulfil their vocation,
It doesn't mean that we all need to become clergy.
It doesn't mean that we all need to have the same job or the same calling.
Because God,
Just like the different expressions we have,
Calls us all to experience life in different ways.
And that then includes living our spirituality and our daily mundane lives in different ways.
Maybe it's not the way that we see fit or the plan that we want,
The idea that we want or the dream.
Yet it is what we need most at the moment.
And it is easy for me to secure and to say that I know life is sometimes really difficult,
Challenging,
Maybe beyond what we think is true or possible for us to handle.
What if we take those moments and we tell our thoughts just like Jesus told the masses,
Have a seat,
And then we allow God to feed our souls,
To bring calm in all of those thoughts that we have.
And when they are full and we gather the energy,
We see that there's still more.
Because then,
In that stillness,
We will hear a whisper,
We will hear the messages from God that we need to hear.
Maybe it's not the message we want to hear.
But I believe that those messages that we will hear are ones that will bring us peace and calm and serenity.
And through those messages,
We will receive the power to face whatever challenges are being thrown our way.
Amen.
