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Reading
John 6:10
Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all.
Devotion
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| Methodist Modern Art Collection, London |
This week's painting was created in 1965 by British artist Eularia Clarke (1914-1970). Her rendering of the feeding of the 5,000 resembles an English Church picnic, complete with tea pots! She was apparently inspired by a visit Cavney Islands and a meal of fish and chips. Reportedly she didn't include Jesus, only a partial view of a priest in the upper right, because she did not feel adequate to render our Lord. The obscured priest stands as a surrogate in what is clearly in her mind a Eucharistic interpretation of John's version of the story.
I'm touched by the everyday pastoral nature of the scene as a picnic. A picnic is a place to sit down, ground under our feet like the third day of Creation, or when Jesus brings a boat in a storm at sea to dry land John 6:21). John 6:10 echoes Psalm 23 versus 2 and 5. It also reminds us of the miraculous bread at the Passover: Moses was at the first Passover, and the people were fed later with the miraculous manna from heaven. This is a message of liberation that penetrates into our everyday existence.
If Jesus is telling us he has come to set us free, that means, dear reader, we ought ask ourselves the question, "Free from what?" What is holding us in bondage, in chains? We're not being held enslaved by Egyptians or conquered by Romans. My friend the late Steve Wilson had this reflection to share:
"...when we take something and elevate it out of proportion, it can become a link in a chain of bondage. We've done that to lots of things, elevating our rights over our responsibilities, our privileges over our obligations. Links in a chain. The Church becomes more important that Jesus. Moral rectitude than love (agape not eros). Certitude than humility. Winning than being right. Links. And those, friends, are the kind of chains we need to be struck off our shackled ankles" (Musings of a Simple Country Priest, reflection for July 25, 2021).
As you picnic and re-create this summer, dear reader, as your fed both in body, mind, and spirit, take a moment to ponder the liberating vision of the Eucharistic feast shared by Ms. Clarke and wonder about your own needs of liberation.
Prayer
O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, Collect for Proper 12).