"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?"
-John 6:9

It's one of the more famous stories in the gospel. There's a big crowd following Jesus around. They're probably thinking about God and the meaning of life and other lofty religious questions, but at some point, their attention shifts: lunch. What are they eating? When? Who's buying? Let's face it: we humans can only go so long without thinking about food.

One of the disciples, Andrew, discovers a boy with a little bit of food to share. It's not much, but it's what they've got. Jesus seats the people - all five thousand of them - and then he gives thanks, and hands out the food. In the end, the five loaves and the two fishes are enough to feed the five thousand. And there are - you guessed it - leftovers. Enough to fill twelve baskets. I'm not sure how 'baskets' translates into 'tupperware', but the gospel writer makes the point clearly enough: this is no ordinary lunch.

Throughout the summer, students have been coming over to my house on Wednesday nights to watch movies. One week we watched Millions (you should see it if you haven't already). It's a film about a young boy who wants very much to give to the poor. He's got quite a spiritual life, and regularly has visions of and conversations with the saints of the Christian faith. At one point, as he's trying to wrestle with the ethical dilemmas involved with large sums of money, he has a conversation with St. Peter - the disciple we read about in the Bible. And Peter tells this little boy about today's gospel reading, remembering this child who was willing to give his five loaves and two fishes.

I don't have the movie committed to memory, but I can sum up what Peter said: in the midst of Christ's grace, that little boy started something. Just about everyone in that crowd had food; the problem was that they weren't so interested in sharing it. But as that boy gave what he had to share, others were moved to give, too. So instead of taking food out of the basket, they ate what they had with them, and shared what was left over... and in the end, the surplus was enough to fill twelve baskets. The miracle was not in a supernatural reproduction of bread and fish, but in the transformation of people's hearts - a transformation made possible by God's grace, and inspired by that little boy. In some ways, that would seem to me like a far more powerful miracle.

It's one way to read the story.

Of course, there are others. But no matter how you read it, we're left with the image of Jesus, able to transform whatever we have to offer. In Christ's hands, the smallest gifts are important, and they are enough. We are enough. We don't have to feed all five thousand on our own, just offer what we can, and trust that God can use it.