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The Sacraments of Hospitality ˜ 211
There was enough on that day in that lonely place for Jesus to feed the multitude.
I don’t think that he produced all that bread and fish, but he taught people
how to share. Whether a child brought forth the loaves and fishes, or the disciples
had them in their pockets, something started when Jesus gave thanks. All
it takes is saying “thank you” for what we have. What little we have is enough.
Gratitude is key. Gratitude makes us real. Gratitude helps us build solidarity
and community. Gratitude is at the heart, and struggle is at the center. It
takes a vision—a vision nurtured by gratitude—to see abundance in the bread
when it seems so little; to see the presence of God in the stranger and outsider.
In that vision, struggle is a given. When you know there is enough food but that
people are still hungry, it produces struggle. When you know that there is
enough shelter for everyone, but that people live in the yard and get rained on,
there is struggle. Without this vision, we shall surely perish in the struggle to go
from the way things are to the way things can be.
We struggle to release the bread in the crowd, and we struggle to release the
Christ in the bread. We struggle to release God in the stranger and to press the
vision even when everyone else seems blind. When Jesus said the bread and body
were broken, he knew what he was talking about, but he gave thanks. He released
the sharing. The deed took him to the cross, to the instrument of torture
and execution, to the worst that the world could offer. But even there death had
already been overcome. In the cross, Jesus wanted us to see the power of life. In
the instrument of despair, Jesus wanted us to see the means of hope. In the executed
criminal, Jesus wanted us to see the Lord of Life.
We come to the table for nourishment. We are fed here. Here is where our
life becomes a banquet. Our life becomes a sacrament when we share this bread
and this cup. The sacrament helps us to grow in love, to know the meal of liberation
and the healing of fear. The meal invites us to freedom and makes us part
of the community of liberation, the God movement, the Beloved Community.
It is ours to give thanks, to share the bread and cup, broken and poured out for
us, in love, in struggle, in hope.
A Gift of Earthen Vessels, by Murphy Davis
A u g u s t 1 9 8 5
There are days, to tell the truth, that you just have to wonder if living in
community is worth it. Like marriage and family life, community is a great idea,