Taking the five loaves and the two fish, [Jesus] looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.

Matthew 14:19-20

Here is a wonderful poem by Mary Oliver about this great miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand with just five loaves and two fish:

Logos by Mary Oliver

Why worry about the loaves and fishes?
If you say the right words, the wine expands.
If you say them with love
and the felt ferocity of that love
and the felt necessity of that love,
the fish explode into many.
Imagine him, speaking,
and don’t worry about what is reality,
or what is plain, or what is mysterious.
If you were there, it was all those things.
If you can imagine it, it is all those things.
Eat, drink, be happy.
Accept the miracle.
Accept, too, each spoken word
spoken with love.

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Sometimes we can get so caught up in how something is possible that we forget simply to enjoy it. This poem by Mary Oliver invites us to accept the miracle, spoken with love, not just of the loaves and fishes, but of our very existence, which is perhaps the greatest miracle of all.

Here is a guest sermon preached by my daughter, who is a seminary student in California, about this great miracle: The Miracle of Community.

Here is a devotion that I wrote on this miracle: How Many Loaves Have You?

Mary Oliver’s poem can be found in a wonderful collection of her poetry called “Devotions” that I read from often and can be purchased through Bookshop or Amazon.