For those of you who haven’t heard the story lately, it goes something like this.

There were a number of young men, some late teens and early twenties, a few a bit older.  They found each other by mutual likes and pursuits and formed a sort of fraternity.

They were of the good sort, and it wasn’t long before they had a bit of a thing going on.  Their main goal was to act and behave like Christ; to portray his love to their fellowmen.

Folks started noticing them, and soon they were quite busy as a group, doing what they had set out to do. 

Whether they were good looking or not, I can’t remember.  But because of the unselfish nature of their work, they were well liked.

Soon they started getting invited to social doings, regardless if they had a connection or not.  The function they were at just seemed to go better if they were around.

One of things that made them popular, at least when they started out, is that they were impartial.   They didn’t make a fuss about who they sat by, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to be seen with the best and the worst in the same day.

And if you would have asked the best and the worst at the end of the day who they thought was the most genuine friend they had, they would have named one or some of this group right off.

But, like all good things have a way of doing, this one did too.  What started out good soon started grinding against too much.  Committee meetings started taking more and more of their time.  They found it impossible to be impartial like they used to be, simply because there wasn’t enough time in the day and enough men in the group to meet all the needs and commitments the people came to them with. 

They hated to admit it, but it boiled down to the noisiest and, maybe, the richest or more popular folks who got their attention. 

What was once a tight nit group of men began to fray at the edges as stress made its way in amongst them. 

They held on though; they kept going.  Even if keeping on meant, for some of them, living a fake. What was once a joy to do now was a task; what once warmed their hearts now irritated them. 

In just the last week, they had been asked to help at a wedding, a funeral, and then someone came and wondered if they’d come sing for their sick relation that wasn’t doing well at all. 

It was time for a break.  They made plans, and the next day they left as a group, to get away from it all for a few days. 

They had just settled into their vacation home.  Some were reading, others napping, and a couple were out on a leisurely walk when they saw a cloud of dust out in the distance.  For a while they paid no mind to it, but in a few minutes they were forced to reconsider as the dust cloud got larger and closer.

They began to see a mass of people trooping their way.  As they got closer, they started making out faces and bodylines. 

It was the same group of people they had just left!  And they had gone out and told all their friends and neighbors about the fame of them and what they were doing. 

They gathered around as the original group of young men looked on, dumbfounded.  Soon they were clamoring for them to resume their acts of kindness and good deeds as before. 

One of the young men suggested that maybe they should try to put on a meal for all of them, and once that was done, maybe they would leave.

Here was the problem.  These men hadn’t done many meals for crowds like this, and being in the remote place that they were, it looked practically impossible. 

A couple were for saying there was no way it would work; they’d be justified in that, they said.

A couple others were for going to the nearest restaurant and trying to buy some take out for the group, but as they looked the size of the group over, they realized it could easily cost in the thousands to feed them.  That didn’t seem feasible either.

It was about then they noticed a small boy, biting his nails, and looking bashfully towards them.  Something about him arrested their attention and they went to him, glad for a diversion from the current dilemma.

They couldn’t have been more surprised at what they found.

“What do you want, little fellow?” 

“I-I just thought I’d like to eat my lunch with you all, since you said you were soon going to eat.”

Looking on, I saw a couple them curl their lips up in scorn.  They furtively looked at me as they whispered about me behind their hands.

I saw one of them start laughing; he didn’t even turn away, just looked right at me while he laughed. 

Another one drew up in pious, and I guess what he hoped was Christ-like concern, and told me in a not so kind rebuke, that they were busy enough and didn’t need the prattles of one like me to interfere with.

I couldn’t understand it.  This was the same group I had seen, just a few months before, whose kindness and patience seemed endless.  Now it looked like each one of them was on the verge of snapping under the strain.

All but One.

He stepped up to me and our eyes locked. 

Time stopped.

The crowd hushed.

I felt love flow through me like I have never felt before.

I felt so comforted, quiet, and peaceful there with Him.

“What do you have for lunch?” He asked kindly. 

I wasn’t afraid to show Him, because I knew He would be good with whatever I had, contrary to what some of the rest of His group said.

He looked it over and His approval was evident.  “This looks so good!  May I have a taste?”

I suppose some will never know how He took what the others thought was useless and made something of it.  I heard later He fed 5,000 people that day.

Except I know.

Nothing had ever changed with Him. 

He hadn’t let the endless committee meetings, the clamoring crowds, the stress of the day, the popularity and success, or the long hours change or staunch the flow of His love.

Because when our eyes locked, I felt it, just as real as ever.

And what I had was enough for Him.