Don't go pickin' blackberries...

An excerpt from my Ravi Zacharias book I'm reading tonight. His writing borders on poetic, and I liked the two quotes he uses here so I had to share it:

What a remarkable illustration of self-inflicted poverty! It is possible to hold a treasure in your hand but be ignorant of it and go for the wrapping instead. The proximity to truth and distance from its worth is repeated innumerable times in our lives...
No one saw this tragedy lived out more than Jesus did. The masses came to Him frequently and left embracing lesser things while forfeiting the real treasure He was offering them. He often expressed surprise at their shallowness in being unable to look beyond the surface...

PROPELLED BY THE SENSATIONAL
Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.
~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning


...How inconceivable was the loss for the people when the signs became the ends in themselves and the One signified became the means. The special effects became the attraction, and the central figure was obscured...
Capturing the beauty of the conversion of the water into wine, the poet Alexander Pope said, "The conscious water saw its Master and blushed." That sublime description could be reworked to explain each one of these miracles. Was it any different in principle for a broken body to mend at the command of its Maker? Was it far-fetched for the Creator of the universe, who fashioned matter out of nothing, to multiply bread for the crowd? Was it not within the power of the One who called all the molecules into existence to interlock them that they might bear His footsteps?...
Those who smirk at His walking on water have forgotten the miracle He has already performed in the very composition of water...

The people and the disciples who saw Jesus performing the miracle of feeding the multitude followed Him with deliberate intentions. They sought the very power that they assumed would make life more delectable - to ensure a full stomach and a limitless supply of bread...
Food and power distracted the mind from the need of nourishment for the soul. It is crucial to note that Jesus' response to their demand is in stark contrast to the self-aggrandizement that would-be messiahs covet. Rather than bask in the accolades of a feigning crowd and soak in their praise or enlarge His following, Jesus slippd away from their clamoring midst. In fact, He wept over their self-deception. He knew the motives and misconceptions with which they lived...

Not only do we remain unfulfilled when we pursue these hungers, but in their very pursuit comes a disorientation that misrepresents and misunderstands where the real satisfaction comes from. This is very, very important to know...

Jon Karkauer's book Into Thin Air relates the hazards that plagued the climbers in their expedition to Mount Everest during the spring of 1996. That year, the attempt to reach the summit resulted in a great loss of life... One of those whose life was lost was Andy Harris [who] had stayed at the peak past the deadline that the leaders themselves had set. On his descent, he became in dire need of oxygen. Harris radioed his predicament to the base camp, telling them of his need and that he had come upon a cache of oxygen canisters left by other climbers, all empty. Those who had already passed by the canisters on their own return from the summit knew that they were not empty, but full. Even as they pleaded with him on the radio to make use of them, it was to no avail. Already starved for oxygen, Harris continued to argue that the canisters were empty.

The problem was that the lack of what he needed so disoriented his mind that though he was surrounded by a restoring supply he continued to complain of its absence. The very thing he held in his hand was absent in his brain and ravaged his capacity to recognize what he was clutching in his grasp.

What oxygen is to the body, the Bread of Life is to the soul. Without that bread, all other hungers will be improperly perceived. In fact, in like manner, the absence of that bread over a prolonged period makes the bread itself seem worthless. Life is meant to be lived with the fulfillment of the one need that defines all other means of fulfillment and the one love that defines all other loves.

Quoted from, Jesus Among Other Gods - Ravi Zacharias