Do You Believe in Miracles?

In his delightful book Jacob the Baker: Gentle Wisdom for a Complicated World, Noah benShea tells us what a miracle is: “…A miracle is often the willingness to see the common in an uncommon way.”

When I was writing Fully Human: The Story of a Man Called Yeshua, I researched the bible, and thought the same thing. So many so-called miracles seemed to be describing common things in an uncommon way. Especially the stories of Yeshua (Jesus.) Because I had Yeshua living in India from the age of 12 to almost 30, I imagined him learning lessons that he would later carry back to Israel and share with his own people. Here is my story of how Yeshua first reasoned how to feed the multitudes, which he would replicate in Israel many years later with a much bigger crowd.

Note 1: At this point in the book, Yeshua has become a Sannyasa, a person who wishes to renounce worldly and materialistic pursuits and dedicate his life to spiritual pursuits. His teacher, Patanjali, has given him his new spiritual name, Issa.

Note 2: In the India of 2,000 years ago, the people strictly observed the Caste system. Issa largely ignored the two upper Castes: The Brahmins (the highest class consisting of priests and teachers,) and the Kshatryas (the warriors and rulers.) Instead he focused on the Vaisya, (the farmers, traders and merchants,) the Sudra, (the laborers,) and the Chandala (the untouchables.)

It had happened again. Over the course of a few weeks, Issa had managed to get the Vaisya, the Sudra, and the Chandala all to sit together contentedly. One day, Issa talked to the crowd for so long that it was nearing the time that most of them would eat, but they were too engaged in his stories to think about food. Finally, a small girl came and sat on Issa’s lap. Issa had taken Kapaali’s advice about children, and found it to be good advice. He smiled at her, and she looked up to him and said loudly, “I’m hungry!”

Issa had with him a few pieces of Indian bread called chapatti, stuffed with vegetables for his own meal. Someone had given him some the night before, and he had not eaten all of it. He looked around and found a basket. He said, “Let us make a miracle today. We are all of different castes, and yet we sit together as one. That is already a miracle, is it not? Let us ask God to bring forth enough food to feed everyone right here, right now. I have brought with me two chapatti with vegetables. I will place them both in this basket. I now give it to you.”

He gave the basket to the little girl sitting in his lap. “Take some out for yourself, but leave some for others. The rest of you, listen closely. When the basket is passed to you, if you have brought food with you, please place some of it in the basket for others. If you have no food, you may take some from the basket. When it comes back to me, if there is still food in it, I will eat with you.”

Now the basket began to pass from person to person. The crowd buzzed with excitement as each person either removed or added to its contents. A few minutes later, when it finally came back to Issa, it had more food in it than when it first started its rounds. Much more! Issa held the basket for everyone to see. “There are almost one hundred people here, and you have all been fed by my placing only two chapatti in the basket! You have indeed performed a miracle!” Everyone cheered.

Thank you to all of you that have purchased my book. It means so much to me. And if you haven’t, and if this passage intrigues you, please consider going to Amazon and downloading the Kindle version of it, or getting the printed version. Click [here] to get it now.

Until next time…