18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, (Proper 13), Year A

“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.[i]
 
Why worry? Well, we have many reasons we could cite. But the invitation here, echoed in these stories of faith, reminds us that others have been where we are and worse, and found a way.
 
What might we discover as we look to their wisdom? What might we know as we lean into “each spoken word, spoken with love” and learn to speak with such truth ourselves? How might we be fed as we feed according to the example of Jesus?
 
Enter into worship. Sunday, 10:00am in-person or online.
 
Readings: Genesis 32:22-31 † Psalm 17:1-7, 15 † Romans 9:1-5 † Matthew 14:13-21
 
About the Art: Swanson, John August. Loaves and Fishes, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56553 [retrieved July 31, 2023]. Original source: Estate of John August Swanson, https://www.johnaugustswanson.com/.


[i] Oliver, Mary. Devotions (p. 179). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

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