This passage reminds me of two of Jesus’
characteristics: faithfulness and wisdom. Jesus is faithful (by providing the 5
loaves and two fishes), and wise (by seeing the disciples misguided thoughts),
and a lot of the time, I am not. For example, I know that at times I tend to
have ‘spiritual amnesia’ or spiritual forgetfulness, where something utterly
divine occurs, but I soon forget the event and move on with my life. Sometimes
these divine interactions are small: the sun breaking through on a cloudy day
and shining on my face, or my dog and his joy when I get home from work, but
sometimes these divine moments are massive: a job coming through, a restored
relationship, a disease being healed.
His divine ways intersect with my everyday
life, and I am immediately changed, shaken, and in awe of the goodness of
Christ himself. Yet, almost with a blink of an eye, sometimes before even a
“thank you Lord” can come out of my mouth, I proceed to forget this encounter,
enter back into my same old habits (worry, greed, selfishness), and fail to
walk as if I’ve intimately encountered Christ.
I am comforted by this passage, as I see the
disciples having the same spiritual amnesia that I struggle with. They have
forgotten all about the abundant feast God provided them with the 5 loaves of
bread and 2 fishes. Christ, seeing their spiritual amnesia, redirects their
thoughts to what really matters.
I am thankful to serve Christ who knows I have
this spiritual forgetfulness, who can see that I am flawed and broken. But even
more than that, I am thankful that He will gently wake me time and time again
from my forgetfulness and redirect me towards His thoughts and His higher ways,
as long as I choose to listen.
Ask
yourself today: What are ways (big and small) that I have seen Christ enter into
my life? How have these moments changed
me? What are ways that I can fight spiritual forgetfulness in the future?
Bailey Douqué
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