The Bread of Life
Guatemala City’s garbage dump is one hell of a place. For many decades, the city has been dumping its trash into what used to be a canyon filled with trees. It is not a landfill with the regulations needed for waste management. It lacks proper recycling and sorting facilities. What once was a beautiful green and luscious ravine with a river at the bottom, is now a garbage dump. Vultures circle the air. The smell can reach out for miles, depending on where the wind blows. And, during rainy seasons, there are landslides. People die there.
Many years ago, my wife and I led a leadership development program for youth in the communities around the dump. Part of the curriculum we designed led the participants through the I Am statements in the Gospel of John.
During our weekly discussions we would spend the first part of our time together reflecting back on what we had learned the previous week. We asked the question: in what ways did I see Jesus throughout the week? The week after we reflected on the “I am the bread of life” statement, we forgot to ask the question. We got down to business without following the already established rhythm. As a result, one of the participants interrupted the meeting when he realized we had skipped the sharing part.
This young man told my wife: “excuse me, Annette, you always ask us to share about the way in which we saw Jesus throughout the week. I have something to share this week.” The group stopped to listen to him. And, he proceeded to tell us the story of how he saw Jesus as the bread of life.
He explained that earlier in the week he had to go down to the garbage dump to collect recyclables. He had to do so because work at the recycling facility was slow that day. This young man had to go down into a toxic wasteland to search for cardboard, glass, and recyclable plastics. As he was sharing the story, he made sure to tell us that he hated working inside the dump. He repeated that at least three or four times.
He proceeded to share: “I was looking for recyclables in the trash. It was so hot. I thought I was going to pass out, I hated it there! I hated it there! As I was digging through the trash, I saw a shiny package.” He stopped for a second and the repeated: “I thought I was going to pass out. I hated it there!” He continued: “And then. The shiny packaged. I grabbed it. It was a perfectly wrapped and preserved loaf of bread. I was so hungry! Then, I remembered! Jesus is the bread of life and he will not let me go.” We didn’t have anything to say after that. What do you say after a story like that? A young man found Jesus buried in a heap of trash.
For a few years, I interpreted that incident as a miraculous encounter between that young man and the food he needed. For some reason, it did not click in my mind and soul that he had an encounter with the divine. I was as blinded as the crowd in John 6:24-35, thinking that the sign was the food provision. When in reality, the sign was the encounter with the divine in Jesus.
recently reflected on the I am the Bread of life passage in following the lectionary for this week. In his reflection, McGowan invites us to read the statement and the context around it as an invitation from Jesus. He states: “Jesus insists that the point of the sign is not to repeat it, but to participate in it. And in this case both the ancient appearance of manna from above, and the more recent unlikely multiplication of barley loaves in Jesus’ own hands, are signs that invite or insist on something beyond themselves without losing their material significance.”1 In other words, the signs are a prompt to help us see beyond this world’s scarcity. They are an invitation into the liturgy of abundance we see reflected in Jesus’ life and ministry. Even more so, they are an invitation for us to participate with Jesus in bearing witness of the kingdom of God and its Justice.I believe that the kid from the bible study understood this before I did. The loaf of bread reminded him that Jesus would not let him go. It was not only about being physically hungry. Though, he was very hungry and immersed in the sinful waste of society sorting through trash to make a living. Jesus provided the bread not only to feed him. The provision came to remind him that Jesus was present right there and then, in solidarity with him. Hence, Jesus wouldn’t let him go amidst the hell we make with our waste. So, “I am the bread of life” means that Jesus exists and insists through us as we challenge the structures that make people go hungry in our world. It is not only about feeding those who need it. God calls us through their voices and we ought to pay attention because theirs is the kingdom of God.
Beautiful. I too have miscalculated experiences like this to be some kind of manifestation of provision rather than an experience of the Divine. What a testimony.