‘… Whoever comes
to me will never be hungry’. (John 6:35)
pic: Slieve Donard looking east 30/7/15
What drives human behaviour is complex..
Desire, hunger and hope drive human activity and behaviour.
From the most basic needs of bodily sustenance up to the highest (or down to
the lowest) of human motivations we are driven to go forward, to seek out, to
protect, to aim high (or low) and to join with others in a shared effort. The curious aspect of desire and motivation
is that we may be only half aware of what it is that drives us forward (or backward).
In fact, some of the time we may be skilled in not facing up to or
acknowledging those drivers. It is never so straightforward that we can divide
up ‘good’ motives and ‘less-than-good’ motives. Life is not that simple and
people are surely not that simple. An intense and consuming desire to achieve
may reflect needs stemming from much earlier in our lives and our relationships
to others – not least our parents or parent.
We may be motivated by the highest of motives to do good and
to serve a good purpose and cause and, yet, if we are honest with ourselves and
others it not that cut and dry. The personal ego is an important driver. In
some cultures the notion that someone is ‘full of themselves’ or that they are
characterised as an ‘egotist’ is a mark of strong criticism and put down.
However, a sense of self and self-achievement may be a positive source of
energy and creativity. Egotism may be understood
as a sense of self at the expense of others and based on a false or exaggerated
understanding of one’s abilities. Care is needed in assessing what motivates
others let alone oneself.
And
what drove the crowds to seek out Jesus....
When Jesus and his disciples saw the crowds looking for them
on the other side of sea in the area of Capernaum they knew that the miraculous
and the extraordinary had drawn them.
The people were seeking the miracle more than the sign that the
evangelist John wishes to highlight. The crowd was hardly to blame. Announce a weekly liturgy in a church near to
you and you might be fortunate to draw a crowd of a few dozen or more. Announce
miracles and healing backed by evidence of such phenomena and you will draw
thousands if not tens of thousands to such an extent that traffic chaos, media
sensation and ecclesiastical investigation will follow! People are only human! After all, the
sensational, the scandalous and the seductive make newspaper headlines and sell
papers; not the everyday, ordinary, virtuous and deeply significant things that
make up the lives of individuals and communities. We don’t read a headline along the lines “It
is widely reported this morning that over six billion million persons went
about their lives yesterday in various parts of the world doing their daily
tasks, caring for others and, for the most part or some of the time, showing
kindness and concern for others”. That’s not news; that’s just a sign of human
life. But, this is where the life of God
is revealed and where the Sign of God’s loving presence is made evident if we
just stop and look and look again. In the midst of pots and pans, books and
tools, toys and gadgets the Glory of God is revealed in people fully alive – no
matter how they think about it or how to rationalise or explain it by reference
to some a-theological mental framework.
Nobody who seeks Jesus will be turned away....
Like the people who followed Jesus to the other side of the
lake we can miss the Signs of God in our chaotic, broken but beautiful and
mystery-laden world. We seek the wrong type of bread in the wrong sorts of
places when the real bread of God’s word and loving presence is freely on
offer. This is the true bread ‘come down from heaven’ and it is also freely
available to those who seek and come to be nourished in the Sacrament. And,
ultimately, nobody can take this gift from us.
A key saying of Jesus is found in verse 37:
‘He who comes to me I
will not cast out’ (verse 37)
It seems a pity that this Sunday’s passage cuts short just
at verse 35 and will not reappear in the following continuous reading from
chapter 6 of John. A key message and lesson in reading the entire chapter 6 of
St John is that Jesus assures us that he will not turn anyone away. Rather, he
asks that we trust or believe in him (verse 29) and be open to the gift of
love. Nobody gets turned away even if their motivations are mixed.
There is a strong echo of Isaiah 55:1-3 where the
prophet Isaiah speaks of a people who
need to come to the source of lasting nourishment and in so doing to hear again
the message of ‘my steadfast sure love for David’. Food, Word, Love and Life
eternal – this is what is on offer if we just trust and come to the Lord in
expectation and desire.
Right now each of us can say to God-who-is-love that ‘I am:
Waiting for you
Hoping for you
Longing for you’
And these words might be possible to say in the minutes and
hours as death approaches if time and circumstances permit. Some may be called,
in a special way, to be the channel through which another meets
god-who-is-love. That is a special and life-giving and life-lasting gift that
purifies motives and lifts us up to a new plane of living. We can be bread for
each other.
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