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that his influence dominated others. This is exactly what Jesus did not do and warned us against trying to do. Quite the reverse from this, Jesus said that the kingdom of God is like a child. It is simplicity and sincerity. It is quiet acceptance rather than loud proclamation.
Keeping this in mind, let us think of Jesus feeding the multitude. His disciples had asked him to disperse the crowd that they might go home where there would be food for them. But Jesus turned to his disciples and asked why they did not feed the multitude. And they replied that they had nothing with which to feed them. “There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes, but what are they among so many?”
Perhaps here is one of the greatest lessons in spiritual history. Jesus must have been surrounded by people of great knowledge. There were the doctors of law who thought they knew all the answers, trying to catch him in a trap. There were his own followers who, although they had seen many miracles, could not believe that Jesus was able to feed the multitude out of nothing. And there was a young boy with a few loaves and fishes, standing eager and expectant and holding out his meager fare to the hands of Jesus, who took the loaves and fishes, gave thanks and broke them, and distributed them to the multitude.
Let us think of this not only as an actual reality – which I most sincerely believe – but also as a symbol of ourselves. There is a little boy in each one of us. There is a hope and an inward spiritual realization in everyone, something that is beyond all doubt, fear, and uncertainty. We would not be here if this were not true.
Let us think of this beautiful symbol – the intellect and the human will surrendering itself to some inward feeling, some child-like simplicity, some spontaneous joy, some complete faith. Yes, that child is in you and in me and experience has never completely dimmed its vision. It is that within us which is child-like that we must cultivate. For the child within us knows a language that the intellect has failed to learn.
