July 29th

”But he answered them, “’You give them something to eat.’” Mark 6:37a

in the pantry, we whisper
as we count how many loaves
we do not have, rather than
noticing what is on the shelves,
but Jesus ignores what we lack
and notices what we have –
the aching hearts,
the sore hands,
the pockets full of grace
we thought we had already spent.
while we are huddled
praying for miracles,
he hands us baskets,
empty baskets –
but then, fear is broken,
hope is multiplied,
compassion takes human form
in hands that dare to give
when everything tells us
to hold tight to what we have
and we discover,
in the giving,
that we have more than
enough,
always
more than enough.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman