Only Child

As you probably know by now, I am an only child.  You may have heard me mention that Ginger says this explains everything.  Among the things she would say is explained is my difficulty in sharing.  It’s not that I’m opposed to sharing in theory.  It seems like a good idea to me.  It is simply that, at least growing up, the need never arose to practice much.  It never occurred to me to have an argument over the last dinner roll or to share a room.  There was no negotiation to be done about what to watch on TV or whose turn it was to ride in the front seat or where the dividing line was in the back.  I never competed for my parents’ attention, or for that matter, my grandparents’.  There’s a lot to be said for being an only child.  Learning to share is perhaps not one of them. 

Two of the disciples were on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus in the afternoon of the first Easter Sunday.  Jesus joined them along the way, although the disciples were not aware who he was even though they discussed the Scriptures all along the way.  It was only when Jesus sat at table with them at the end of the day, took the bread, and broke it that they realized that this stranger from the road was the risen Jesus.  Breaking the bread is the first act of sharing it.  It is in sharing that the risen Jesus is most clearly revealed, more clearly even than all of the biblical elucidation in the world. 

Now Luke tells quite a different story in the Book of Acts (2:14a, 36-41).  There Peter preached with many arguments and 3,000 were baptized into the community of believers.  Peter was obviously eloquent and persuasive.  It is a dramatic story.  It also seems so much less costly than the one about Emmaus.  For one thing, there is no dusty road involved.  There are no miles to be walked over a couple of hours.  No huffing and puffing.  And no sharing.

It is also much more efficient.  We don’t know how long it took, but probably less time than it took to walk to Emmaus.  And there were 3,000 believers to show for it.  There is a great deal more effort put into the walk to Emmaus, and so little to show for it.  The latter involved just two people, and they were already disciples anyway.

Somehow, though, I can’t help but think the inherent self-sacrifice that comes in sharing of one’s daily bread leads to something much deeper than all the eloquent words in the world.  Maybe not.  Peter, after all, seems to have made a pretty big impression. Still, the act of sharing reveals more to me about Jesus.  But maybe it’s because I’m an only child.

Peace,