Tip of My Iceberg

We have the best tree in our backyard that holds a swing, which has provided hours of joy to the littles in our family. It’s even been a resting place for the older kids when they wanted space away from the littles. A quiet area overlooking our pond that is calming.

A place to play; a spot to think.

Rarely do any of the littles go on by themselves. It’s rather like women who feel the need to go to the restroom together. This swing invites group engagement; the more, the merrier.

Fun fact to know for the day: “the more, the merrier” appeared in a Middle English poem titled “Pearl” in the 14th century. The playwright John Heywood made it popular in his book “Proverbes,” published in 1546. The idea behind this is that the more people who are involved, the happier the situation will be.

Our kids understand that perfectly. When the cousins are gathered together, the joy and noise level increase dramatically.

The irony in this is that the entire proverb says something very different. “The more people, the merrier–we all have enough to eat. Maybe, but the fewer people there are, the better everyone eats.” (Translated from Old English.) A larger crowd ensures more fun, but it’s accompanied by less food. Fewer people may be less euphoric, but the food will be more plentiful.

It begs the question: More fun or more food?

Jesus was a proponent of both.

The longer Jesus preached, the greater the crowds became who followed Him. Even when He tried to slip away for a bit of quiet, the people followed Him. He chose to graciously teach them, even when He was physically tired.

Late one afternoon, after the crowds had been listening to Him teach for most of the day, His disciples came to Him and encouraged Him to send the crowd away to a nearby village to buy food. They’d gone a long time without eating. Jesus told them, “You feed them.” Luke 9:13.

Only one little boy had the lunch of a poor person: five small loaves of barley bread and two tiny fish. When Jesus had them seat the people, over 5,000 of them, He had the disciples pass out the food. In awe, the men followed His instructions. Jesus broke the loaves into pieces, and He kept handing the food out. “They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!” Luke 9:17.

Jesus is a lavish Giver of good things. To Him, everyone deserves to be loved well, treated with compassion and respect, and experience the hope of the community of those united in Him.

The cousins found such delight in swinging together. There was greater joy in their collaborative play than if only one had been on the swing.

Too often we fear we won’t have enough, so being generous and giving freely of what we have seems challenging. We worry about not having enough, about having to do without. We miss the satisfaction of sharing freely what we have with others, not trusting that God does provide. Maybe not exactly the way we think or desire, but He is our sufficiency.

The more, the merrier is truly a holy way of living. Inviting others in to share what we have, giving freely what we’ve been given, is an attitude that not only invites community in, but shows others how much we value them.

After all, the more is merrier.