Divine Math

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a story about "bucket fillers" and "bucket dippers." To follow up on the concept that the way to fill our own bucket is to fill up someone else's bucket, I offer an example of what I call divine math.

Almost everyone has likely heard of the "loaves and fishes" stories in the New Testament. In Matthew 14, we read that to feed the hungry crowd of 5,000, Jesus used just five loaves of bread and two fish, blessing and breaking the bread to distribute to those gathered in the desolate place where they were. In the next chapter, he used seven loaves and a few small fish to feed in excess of 4,000 people. That is divine math; God obviously can bend the rules of multiplication as we know them, and that has always been fascinating (and comforting) to me. It is in the breaking and sharing of what we have, that it is multiplied.

There is another aspect of these stories, however, that I think is often overlooked and perhaps even more amazing. In the case of the 5,000, after they had all eaten and were satisfied, the broken pieces that were gathered up amounted to twelve full baskets. After the 4,000 were done, seven large baskets were filled with the leftover broken pieces. Not only was the food multiplied in a way that breaks the "rules," but what was left over was more than what Jesus had started with at the beginning! And furthermore, in the case where he started with less, he ended up with the most.

In a world desperately lacking in so many ways, we all need to ask ourselves the same question Jesus asked his disciples, "How many loaves do you have?" And when we count what we have, we should use divine math to calculate how far it will go and not worry about giving it away, knowing it will return to us many times over.

Jesus did not want to send the crowds away empty, and he still wants those who believe in him to fill those in need, whatever the need might be. Sometimes the need seems so great, it is easy to become overwhelmed, but we all need to do what we can, even if it seems insignificant. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, "Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think."

And what you give may go much further than you can conceive.