by Joel Lawler

He was a curios little guy.  The kind of kid that one answered question only brought about 30 more.  His curiosity and wonder often would cause him to get into trouble.  Even though this was the case, he remained passionate towards always being filled with wonder.

His mother worried about him.  How would he grow up and fit into society?  He never seemed satisfied.  Would he mature and grow out of this?  Part of her wished it would be so but deep in her heart she loved this trait about him.  She knew that it was one of the things that made him special.
"Mom, He is coming here!"  He burst into the door.
"Who?"  She asked.
"The great magician!  The one all the stories that everyone is talking about.  He is going to be here in the valley."
"I know very little of whom you speak and the valley is not really 'here'.  It is quite a ways away". 
"I have to go.  I cannot miss this."

She knew that even if she locked him in his room that somehow he would escape and go anyway.  She figured it best to allow him to go and have him prepared for such an adventure than to forbid him and have him go off on his own.

She prepared some food for him.  She also wanted to be sure that he not get his hopes up.  She made sure to tell him that many people have been built up to be something great only to be found out to be not all they were said to be.

This heightened his curiosity all the more.  If this phony was going to be exposed, he was going to be the one to do it.

Upon arriving at the location, he found himself to be at the back of the crowd.
"This will never do" he said to himself.  From back here, how would he see the strings or the mirrors that the magician was using.  He would have to sneak his way up front. 

Fortunately he was small enough that his cutting through the crowd was a simple nuisance.  Most of the adults excused it as a rude little boy who most likely was not properly raised.

He was able to slip through the masses to get a seat right up front. 

This was not what he had hoped for at all.  The guy he had traveled so far to see just kept talking and talking.  When was he going to do his tricks?  Maybe he was a fraud.  Maybe all the rumors were just fantasies and made up stories? 

His words were different.  Even though all he was doing was talking, there was something about what he was saying that was interesting.  He could not possibly understand it all  but the things he was able to comprehend, made sense and had meaning.

The day was growing long.  He clutched his bag of food that his mother had packed eagerly anticipating a break when he could devour it.

The magician stopped talking.  There was a huddle up front of the magician and the men who were his traveling companions.

The boy was close enough to hear that the discussion was about a lack of food.  With so many people, there was simply no way to feed them all.

He had his food but what about the others?  The magician himself had to be hungry. 

Without a moment's hesitation, the boy jumped up.  He was going to give the magician his food.  After all, maybe if he ate something then he would feel up to doing some of the tricks that he was known for.

One of the men was touched by his offer and took his food sack to the magician.  The magician took the little bag, prayed over it's contents and started passing it out.  The bag was passed to the first group of people.  It then went to the next group.  Each person reaching in and pulling out enough for themselves.  It never emptied!

This was what the boy had come to see.  This was the meaning of it all.  The great magician had taken his simple gift and fed the masses. 

He traveled home carrying in his heart the knowledge that God can take the smallest gift and use it to reach the masses.

How was he ever going to explain this to his mother?