Will I get any? Will that basket even get as far as me?

I shared some thoughts with our ward yesterday that I feel are worth sharing here. We had sung the hymn Reverently and Meekly Now that always gives me pause to ponder as it is written as Jesus Christ speaking in the first person to you and to me.

I then shared some thoughts about the sacrament - I had a piece of bread about the size of a grape. You get small and large grapes, but this was sort of a medium sized grape. And the water was also a small quantity. These were really welcome as we were fasting, and the sacrament has particularly special meaning to me while fasting.

My mind turned to the experiences when Jesus Christ provided bread and wine for some people. In what we refer to as the Last Supper He probably broke bread into about 13 pieces and shared this bread and wine for Himself and His twelve apostles. That bread and wine might have been larger portions than a grape.

Jesus blesses the bread for the first sacrament

Then He broke bread and gave it to 5000 people, sharing but five loaves and two fishes, and the multitude did all eat and were filled. I wondered how long it took Him to break the bread and what size portions He broke. In His visit to the Nephites He administered bread and wine to apparently 2500 people as He introduced them to the sacrament. He first gave to the 12 disciples. After they had eaten and were filled from bread that He had broken, they were then instructed to serve the bread to the multitude who, in turn, had eaten and were filled. He then gave them wine and they did all drink and were filled. Them all being filled sounds as though the pieces of bread may have been larger than a medium sized grape. 

Loaves and fishes for feeding the five thousand

I have often wondered what someone sitting at the edge of the crowd might have been thinking as the basket was passed around. Whether the basket was large with people reaching deep into them, or small with bread visible above the brim, might some have wondered - 'Will the basket have anything in it when it reaches me? Will it even reach me?'

It is remarkable that when He served, there was enough and to spare, with twelve baskets of fragments being gathered up after the multitude had departed following the feeding of the 5000. How often do we look at things and worry that we will not get anything, or that we will lose out, or that we cannot have enough for ourselves, let alone sharing with others? It takes quite a paradigm shift to get ourselves thinking in harmony with the way the Saviour taught, as in John  17:21-22, that we strive to become one with Father and Son. This goes even a leap further as we are each promised in D&C 84:33-38 'all that the Father has' as we enter into the new and oath and covenant of the priesthood. I was impressed when my brother pointed out that the Father does not only have everything that is in the Earth and all of His creation, but He also has the power to create all of those things. That is a mighty promise!

I think that many people focus on the concept that they can buy anything in this world with money rather than simply working to have sufficient for their needs, and then continuing to work 'by the sweat of thy face' to share of their surplus with others. I hope that I shall always be able to unselfishly share of my surplus with others and be confident that there is enough and to spare.