The crowd

Someone once compared husbands to split-type air-conditioners, i.e., noisy outside with the crowd, but silent inside the house.

In today’s Gospel (John 6:1-15), we hear about a large noisy crowd that was following Jesus and His disciples. Imagine the chatter and the clutter! But, when it came to feeding a crowd of 5,000 hungry people, it was a quiet, simple child that made the difference to feed them all. Also in life, it is not the noisy ones, but often the silent ones that get things done.

Jesus was able to make the multiplication of the bread and fish happen, because of a little boy who willingly parted and shared what he had. The “crowd” also had their food provisions, but were not willing to share them with others. Jesus must have used the example of the generous little boy to encourage the others to also share whatever they had. There is enough for everyone if everyone would just share with everyone.

The apostle Philip saw the crowd and said: “Two hundred day’s wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” On the other hand, Andrew saw the little boy and said: “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fishes.” When we encounter situations or problems, do we become the “organizer” Philip who sees the crowd and gets overwhelmed, or the “visionary” Andrew who sees a little boy with abilities and possibilities?

What was the difference between the little boy and the crowd? The boy was focused on Jesus; the crowd was focused on themselves, and on each other. The little boy was open to Jesus’ agenda; the crowd had their own personal agenda.

If we do not have a personal relationship with God, we can get lost and drown in the game of competition, comparison, and control of the “crowd” out there.

COMPETITION. People in the crowd want to be better, to be higher, to be faster, to be richer than the others. For them, life is a game, a race, a survival of the fittest and the brightest, a rat race, an unending pushing till the end. By any means, by all means, the game of the crowd is to win, to be first, and to be ahead of the rest.

COMPARISON. The crowd is always focused on ranking and rating compared with others. It is all about vigilance and keeping an eye on anyone ahead, behind, above, and below. The “Desiderata” described this so well: “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always, there will be lesser or greater persons than yourself.”

CONTROL. Those in the crowd are always on the watch, that their comfort zones are not disturbed nor diminished. And so, it is that there are many users and abusers, many bullies and bashers, in the crowd.

It would be good to ask ourselves today: “Am I living a life that is pleasing to God, or am I just a crowd pleaser?” Do I have principles and core values that make me strong to “go against the crowd” when I need to do so?

“Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted” (John 6:12). The Lord reminds us today not to waste our blessings just on ourselves. May we live grateful lives, and be mindful of sharing our blessings especially to the poor and the suffering.

On a light note, what happened to the little boy who was instrumental in making the miracle of the multiplication of the bread and fish happen? I heard that he became a baker, and went on to become a bakery magnate in the whole region! Kidding aside, the little boy reminds us that givers live more joyful and meaningful lives. In contrast, the crowd, the takers live stressful and vain lives.

Think about this: “As a basketball coach, my life mindset before was to compete. Now, I am focused on living a life that is complete. The difference is the addition of the letter ‘L”—Love!” (Coach Ryan Gregorio)

A moment with the Lord.

Lord, help us not to play the game of competition, comparison, and control. Amen.