No matter what our circumstances are, we all rely on community in some way or another. Even if we are oriented around independence and individualism, we were never meant to be alone.
Our own Christian tradition teaches this insight. All four Gospels contain some version of the miracle of the “loaves and fishes,” where Jesus feeds the multitudes from only a small amount. However, without the willingness of the few who shared the little they had, the miracle could not have taken place. The “miracle” was the generosity lying dormant within the crowds. The resources were there waiting to be called forth.
We generally wonder, “What good can one person do? What is the sense of our small effort?” What cannot be immediately seen is that we must lay one brick at a time, and take one step at a time. We can and must, however, beg for an increase of love in our hearts that will vitalize and transform all our individual actions, and know that God will take them and multiply them, as Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes.
Let us pray for an “increase of love in our hearts” that will awaken, transform, and multiply the impact of our individual actions.
Hebrews 10:24-25 “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
