Picnic basket we share

I think each of us arrives here on earth sort of like the bulb pictured to the left. The inside of the bulb contains a mysterious combination of botanical chemistry that when provided the proper environment and nourishment will push through the lumpy brown package and once it feels the warmth of sunlight the bulb will then grow a green stem with some kind of glorious blossom as its face. Our 'bulb' is the picnic basket God gave us when we were sent to earth.

For reasons I cannot explain to anyone, my mind skittered from the 'bulb of individuality' to the story from the bible and the feeding of the 5000. As the story played itself in my mind: Jesus teaching, huge mob of listeners, long day and hungry people, my mind wandered to the next layer of story. The next layer of story says that this situation created, concern: we need to feed these people; doubt: we don't have enough money; generosity: I have some fish and bread in my picnic basket; appreciation: I thank you for sharing. And then the 'ta-da' -- not only did everyone have enough to eat but then they filled baskets with what was left over.

I have always gotten lost in this story trying to figure out how the food suddenly multiplied, how everyone got fed and how there were leftovers. Usually I'd hear the story, go through my questions of 'how can this be' and then like most people, just accept it as a story about Jesus' miraculous powers.

I'm beginning to think we're not hearing what the stories in the bible are trying to say. What I'm about to say will have many 'believers' calling me blasphemous but it's what I hear in my heart so here goes: the story isn't about Jesus' miraculous powers as much as it is about the miracle of sharing what is in our individual picnic basket. The miracle is that someone with a few fish and a couple loaves of bread believed they could make a difference. The miracle is that this person had the courage to offer what appeared to be rather paltry given the situation. The miracle is that the person wasn't hoarding their fish and bread but willing to offer it 'to be shared and blessed.'

The reason I think these actions: believing an individual has the capacity to make a different, courage to offer it despite appearing paltry as well as the faith to share and not hoard, is the point of the story is because these are the actions we are each capable of taking in our lives. I really believe Jesus came to show US what we can do and not so that he would be revered as the miracle worker of all time.

Each of us has been provided with a 'picnic basket.' We were sent to earth equipped with our personal and individual picnic basket. The purpose of that basket is for us to discover what is in it and then to share it: to offer what we have been sent here with: to trust in the goodness of life with enough belief that we do not need to hoard and cling to what we find we have been given. This is not an especially new idea but the new idea that appeared for me today was that our picnic basket is not only our personality, gifts and abilities but God put a lovely, lovely dessert to go with each picnic. The dessert is our own personal 'magnet.'

This 'dessert magnet' attracts for each of us exactly what we will need in order to use our gifts and abilities to their greatest extent.

Have you ever noticed other people's magnets at work? Some people seem to attract money with ridiculous ease, some people attract security - they are taken care of in the basics of life with little effort, some people attract what we call luck - they seem to be in the right place at the right time. Some people seem to attract authority - they seem to rise quickly to leadership positions, other people seem to attract comfort - they are given exactly what is needed so they relax into situations. I attract ideas and my picnic basket also had two extra helpings of curiosity as well as a good size container of creativity and a condiment called risk taker: all of these are needed in order to do something with the ideas that I seem to attract like lint. The 'idea magnet' was the special dessert put into my picnic basket.

Learning to live with an idea magnet was not always easy. Because ideas pop up all over the place for me, when I was younger I was often overwhelmed by what seemed like too many options in the activities of life. Because I naturally attracted new ideas I was rarely able to just 'accept' what I was told and so was frequently labeled difficult. Because I am easily fascinated by new ideas and the enthusiasm that comes with them I have been called a dreamer, fanciful and a tad crazy: "when will Mary learn to be realistic!" It took me a lot of living to learn how to focus and to finish one thing before beginning three others; it took me a lot of living to stop expecting myself to think like other people. It took me a lot of living to stop thinking of my self as 'special' {which was my defense for feeling hurt when others wanted me to be more 'normal' i.e., obedient} and to simply accept myself as unique {which each of us is}. It also took a lot of living to learn to accept that this is what I attract and therefore this is what I am called to share from my life: my ideas and creativity and willingness to risk in order to create something with them is the equivalent of the few fish and couple loaves of bread in the picnic basket of the person listening to Jesus. I MUST offer the fruit of my ideas to life.

The dessert in our picnic basket that we were given when we were sent to earth - our personally unique magnet of attraction - is what we have an abundance of no matter how paltry it might appear in the great scheme of things. The paradox is that our 'dessert magnet' only works really well if we learn to offer it to be used and multiplied because again, paradoxically, until it is embraced and shared, our 'dessert' often seems a burden rather than a gift. Burdens come in many guises: heaviness of responsibility, fear of losing the delight or comfort we have with it, fear of having it taken away, fear of using it up, fear that we don't deserve it, fear that we're not worthy of what we receive from it -- the list can go on and on for it is a list of being human.

And the human response to the cause of burdens and/or fears is - rather oddly - to hoard it. We can hoard our dessert by putting it in the freezer for another time {or life}, we can put it on a pretty dish for all to see but never allow it to be eaten, we can nibble the edges as a guilty pleasure but never enjoy what we are eating, we can box it up and put it in the cupboard or we can throw it away. Dessert magnets are often thrown away.

Often we throw away our dessert because deep inside we don't believe we are worthy or acceptable for the abundance - the beauty, the pleasure - it gives us. Let me go to the heart of this conundrum because dealing with this problem was a deep and personal learning experience for me so I know I am right about what I am about to say: get over it!!! If you were sent here on earth with it you ARE acceptable and worthy - if you weren't worthy and acceptable then what would have been the point of being given it! Do you feel you haven't used it properly or have made errors of judgement? Of course you have - you're human! Learn from your mistakes and get over it. Think of it this way: if the person with the few fish and couple loaves of bread had been wringing their hands and muttering to themselves: Lord I'm not worthy to offer you this .... well, what use would that be: No offering, no blessing and no thanks and voila ! everyone goes hungry!

Here's the upshot of the story: we were given the magnet that attracts the whatever unique thing we happen to have an abundance of, because when we have the courage to own it, learn to use it and then share it, there's plenty of what is needed in the world. So much so that despite the paltry amount started with, there are baskets of leftovers.

Which brings me to the part of the story that I believe was left out and it's a shame because I think it's the point of the story. You see when the person with faith and courage offered their paltry amount and saw that it was blessed and given thanks for THEN others in the crowd pulled their basket out into the open and decided maybe they could share their fish and hummus. Perhaps another decided their grapes would be a lovely addition and the lentil stew another had hidden under their wrap would be lovely with the pita the person next to him had. And on and on went the pulling forth and sharing with the neighbor ...

Each of us has an abundance of something: hospitality, security, money, resources, ideas, creativity, intelligence, physical prowess, stamina, mechanical ability, compassion, cooperation, leadership, analysis ... fish. The list could go on and on because many, many different kinds of dessert magnets were given out because the needs of the crowd are enormous! Each of us has a dessert magnet that is attracting right now exactly what is needed in order to use the other contents of the picnic basket IF you haven't hidden away your dessert magnet out of fear of or pride in, the abundance.

What you attract is what is needed by the crowd. Actually, it's needed by God which is the other part of the story. If you want to play out the part about Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes well then, someone needed to give those to him! He didn't manufacture them out of air - they were offered, given and then blessed. Which is what the story is about: awareness of the picnic basket, willingness, courage, faith, generosity, blessing and then one heck of a fine picnic. This is how life has been designed. What is in your picnic basket?