Life can be seen from an optimistic or pessimistic point of view. I recall a story of twin boys who were given their birthday gifts, and both were given the same thing: a huge pile of dung. One boy sobbed bitterly saying, "Oh what a mess. What a useless pile of dung. What can I do with this pile of dung? I don't want this useless pile of dung." The other boy was very excited and exclaimed, "Yahoo! If there's this pile of dung, there must be a horse somewhere nearby!" If we received such a gift, how would we respond?
In today's Gospel, we are told: "His disciples replied, ‘Where could anyone get bread to feed these people in a deserted place like this?’ He asked them, ‘How many loaves have you?’ ‘Seven’" The disciples seemed pessimistic about feeding the crowd, but Jesus was optimistic and even gave instruction for the crowd to sit down on the ground. In the end, Jesus fed the crowd and even seven basketfuls of the scraps left over were collected after that.
What can we learn from this? We can learn that Jesus was not looking at limitations; rather He was more interested in possibilities. When we look at life from an optimistic point of view, we begin to see the many possibilities that could happen, if we are willing to consider such possibilities no matter how small they may seem and take time to make it happen with God's help. May we seize such opportunities with enthusiasm, and glorify God in all we say and do.
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