From Mark's gospel reading for today, February 16, 2010: “Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend?Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up? "They answered him, “Twelve.”“When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?” They answered him, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?” I'm sure there is a lot here that I don't understand, but what struck me on first reading it is that Jesus sees that the disciples haven't yet seen what is at work as they are asked to feed people. What is at work? A recurring theme in my own theology rooted in my reading of the gospel and in my observation of life is that when people come together and in faith, good will and willingness to be selfless for the sake of a greater good, miracles do happen. When i rowed for women's crew in college, (we were a motley crew) I experienced this. We were a group of real personalities, but we sacrificed for the sake of the team, and we grew to love eachother and on a few occasions? we MOVED that boat. It was an out of body experience and we even managed to beat PAC 10 schools, including UCLA and USC. When people give it their all... great things happen. BUT, the cause has to be worthy of us, our dignity, our goodness. An aside: Parker Palmer talks about nonviolence as "honoring, through our actions and words, the integrity and dignity of the other." I will try today to sinc up these two observations... that I am seeking a way to be part of an effort to feed the world while honoring the dignity and integrity of others. and in particular, to ask: where am I called to do that?
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