Ordinary Time
If I just breathe
Let it fill the space between
I'll know everything is alright
Breathe
Every little piece of me
You'll see
Everything is alright
If I just breathe
"Breathe" by Michelle Branch (2003)
Today, breathe in God’s abundant Enough.
After this Jesus went across the Galilee Sea (that is, the Tiberias Sea). A large crowd followed him, because they had seen the miraculous signs he had done among the sick. Jesus went up a mountain and sat there with his disciples. It was nearly time for Passover, the Jewish festival.
Jesus looked up and saw the large crowd coming toward him. He asked Philip, “Where will we buy food to feed these people?”
John 6:1-5
Passover was the time Jews came together to celebrate their freedom from slavery in Egypt. The story is set up just right: those who were celebrating their liberation are here seen flocking to the one coming to liberate and save. This might be the first time in the Gospel that Jesus becomes concerned with physical food – not just the word of God as food – but what we actually eat.
This scene foreshadows another where Jesus again breaks bread with the disciples – bread and wine that pronounce our liberation as Christians. When we take a piece of bread and a sip from the cup, our bodies are filled and we are reminded that the sacrifice and the life of our Savior are enough to provide strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. A piece and a sip to remind us that while we might just be one morsel in the loaf, one single sip in the chalice, one piece of the body, we too, are enough.
Timothy Peoples
God of all things, help me to realize that while I am but a crumb and a drop, I am enough to make a difference in this world. Amen.
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
attributed to John Wesley