Mtr Mary Trainor

Eyes were bloodshot lips were red hot
at the greatest show on earth
at the feeding of five thousand|well I don't know what you heard  …* 

Dear friend,

It’s pretty hard to impress us these days. Quantum theory, multiple-organ transplants, artificial intelligence, self-driving cars.

We can create our own avatar for social media, completely recreate “reality” with very affordable photo editing software for our smart-phones by which we can erase people or add them. Oh, and the smart-phones themselves.

Two fishes as the spirit
five loaves bread the soul
at the feeding of five thousand
where the baskets overflowed  …

When I was a child, the idea of  humankind walking on the moon was the stuff of strong imagination, or perhaps even delusion. Now, it’s been more than fifty years since those first steps were taken.

So it is we come to our Gospel reading for today’s Daily Office, and its most incredible story: The feeding of five thousand people. In the wilderness. Not enough food. No late-night markets to assist.

Because we’re smart, and educated, and wise in our varied ways, this story can be challenging. Dare I even say, preposterous?

Yet I am reminded of an old poem I read as a child: The Owl Critic. The setting is a busy barbershop, full of men awaiting their turns. A stuffed owl on a perch was deemed acceptable manly decor for such a shop

A young man entered, who apparently was an expert in all things “owl.” He berated the work of the taxidermist, pointing out all the flaws. Near the poem’s end, the young critic gets his comeuppance:

“Just then, with a wink and a sly normal lurch, the owl, very gravely, got down from his perch, walked around, and regarded his fault-finding critic (Who thought he was stuffed) with a glance analytic.

“And then fairly hooted, as if he should say: 'Your learning's at fault this time, anyway; Don't waste it again on a live bird, I pray.’”

Just when I start to deceive myself as to what is and what is not possible in God’s realm, I remember the owl critic, so certain that bird was not alive.

Feeding five thousand in a context of scarcity? It’s a question for all. As for me, it belongs to the great Mystery, where only God is God.

Love it reaches through the darkness
loves the King of golden rules
golden rules, golden rules.

Mtr Mary

*Feeding of the 5,000, Ian Brown