Blue sky domed over Galilee.
The sun was setting and a little wind
Stirred the rapt listeners as they halted there.
He spoke as never yet man spake before
Of bondage loosed, hungry spirits fed,
Of God's great love.
It was a desert place and night approached,
And to his followers Jesus said,
"Give ye them to eat, lest they shall faint."
"Two hundred pennyworth of bread
Would not suffice this multitude," said one.
A little lad with barley loaves and fish
Made his way forward and laid
His offering at the Master's feet,
For truly he was fed, sated
With the glorious truth he'd heard,
And willing to share his slender provender.
The Master took the humble food
And blessed and brake and gave
To his disciples
And they to the waiting multitudes
And all were fed,—
All—even the lad who proffered first the food.
How blest that meal!
The fragments then were gathered up
That nothing might be lost.
And as they scattered through the gathering dusk
Surely each voice was hushed with gratitude.
God's tender care had been exemplified.
Poems
THE SHARED MEAL
From the October 1944 issue of The Christian Science Journal
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