LOOK AT YOUR LOAVES
God always makes good on his promise to match our gifts, such as they are, with his own. It is something to remember when the crowd looks too big, the odds too poor, the work too hard, the situation too hopeless. It is something to remember when our own resources look too meager, our efforts too puny, our spirits too low.
Stop staring at the crowd; go look at your loaves. How many do you have? Any answer will do. Now follow the leader. Take what you have—whatever you have—take it into your hands and hold it lightly, very lightly. Then bless it— thank God for what you have and make it holy by giving it away for love. Then break it—sorry, but you have to tear it up to share it, there is no way to keep it all in one nice piece. And finally, give it—to whoever is standing in front of you, beside you—spread it around, and never mind that there does not seem to be enough for everyone. It is not up to you to feed the whole crowd, to solve the whole problem, or to fix the whole world. It is up to you just to share what you have got, to feed whatever big or little hunger that happens to be standing right in front of you. The rest will come. Because God is God, the rest will come. For now, for your part, how many loaves have you? Go and see.
Barbara Brown Taylor, Mixed Blessings