SPRING FORTH NOW - DAILY MEDITATION

There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

John 6:9-13

The fragments of our lived experiences are important ingredients for us to define our pathway forward in order to flourish in that which should be for our lives, our life and life more abundantly. Often we discard or ignore the leftovers of our experiences because they seem unimportant or we are in such a state of relief of surviving our experience that the fragments, lessons learned, go uncollected. I would suggest to you that your experience was necessary as a catalyst to produce the fragments in order to further develop and define your pathway forward. In the present protests against racist/ant-Blackness structures and systems of our society, we must be conscious and intentional about the fragments of our experiences, historical and contemporary, to gather the fragments as a foundation to move us forward in our flourishing and defining our pathway forward. Be careful not to be so exhausted by the struggle and/or so elated about the victory or possibility of victory of the now that we negate or neglect the fragments from the experience, they are critical building blocks for transformation beyond our present and/or potential battle victory. Be mindful that no one or nothing will be able to identify the positive building material for you, it demands your intentional reflection that will identify and enable you to gather up the fragments necessary to define your way forward to transformation of what is to that which should be. At the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus took an experience and initiated a process to resolve the issue, to feed them, and as a result he was able to collect at least 5 loaves of bread and three fish. With the blessing and breaking of bread and fish, 5,000 people were fed until full. Afterwards, Jesus chose not to just move on but take the initiative to collect the fragments, leftovers; 12 baskets full, sufficient to feed again and even more. Do not limit your experience to the now by overlooking the leftovers, the fragments, they are building blocks to live on and flourish, defining a pathway forward. Catch The Wind of God’s Spirit even in the fragments of your experience for there is more than what you see, empowering you to define your pathway forward, Receive and live, flourish!