Recently, I had a long conversation with a friend about what people need in this modern era. We both remarked that – especially here in the United States – we have so many things and so much stuff and yet there seems to be a pervasive sense of emptiness and fragmentation. Moreover, we live in what many call the “age of information” with more news and facts at our fingertips than any prior generation, and yet we seem more disengaged than ever.
One of my favorite poets, David Whyte, has a wonderful poem called “Loaves and Fishes” that I think about often. It simply reads:
This is not
the age of information.
This is not
the age of information.
Forget the news,
and the radio,
and the blurred screen.
This is the time
of loaves and fishes.
People are hungry,
and one good word is bread for a thousand.
When I reflect on the early church (we hear the story of Stephen the martyr today from Luke/Acts) and on the mission of Jesus as told through the gospel, I think about how both tended to the hunger of the people.
Back then and now, people need physical sustenance. I don’t take this lightly in a country where so many suffer from food scarcity. To be “church” to people means literally to feed them, and this is what Jesus did – fed them in loaves and fishes.
But people hunger for more than food. Our spiritual hungers for connection, belonging, support and visibility are real as well. And Jesus did this too. So often in the gospels we read of him pausing to recognize someone, bring them back into the community or welcome them. This is our work as well, and this is the “good word” that David Whyte speaks of.
In today’s first reading, Stephen, one of the early Christians, is being hauled in before the authorities because he has been bold and public in his faith. This inspired people. In fact, there are many, myself included, who would say that one of the reasons that “the church” has lost so much of its power in the modern era is that it is almost indistinguishable from the wider culture around it. By and large, it offers little challenge and little authentic engagement – becoming just another “thing to do”.
People hunger for something that is real, something that offers transformation, something other than business-as-usual. We do not need more information. We do not need more screen time. We need each other. We need authentic engagement. We want to be about something real and something bigger than ourselves.
Perhaps this week, we can do the work of loaves and fishes – responding to the needs of the world around us. And maybe we can offer a different witness to the world that creates connection, belonging and transformation – no matter where we find ourselves.
[PS – I have found the animations of UK artist Steve Cutts to be particularly poignant in visually offering why the world needs a “good word.” You can check out his work here: https://www.stevecutts.com/]