Five Loaves And Two Fish(Tom Di Roma) Five Loaves And Two Fish

Even if you’re not Catholic, you might be familiar with the Bible story of the two fish and the five loaves, and how they were used to feed the five thousand. Those of you with strong imaginations might even have created a picture in your mind’s eye of each piece of fish and/or bread being magically replaced by another until there were enough scraps left to fill twelve wicker baskets. Well, something slightly similar happened to a friend of mine.
I hadn’t seen Jeff in about a year since he opened his antique store. Right after the opening, he had me do a little Feng Shui in his shop. Then the both of us got really busy with our lives—mine was in Real Estate.
Last week, he left a message on my phone. When I called back, he asked me to come to his shop just before opening. “I have something to show you.”
“What?”
“You’ll see when you get here.”
When I arrived, I followed him into his shop. Then after accepting a cup of tea, I asked, “So what do you want to show me?”
“First, let me tell you what happened.” Getting comfortable in my chair, I tried to focus on what he was going to tell me. “About three weeks ago,” he said, “I got what I thought was a really nasty case of food poisoning. It turned out to be a really bad viral infection. The doctor gave me a fifty-fifty chance of pulling through. When I heard that, I got scared witless. So one night, while lying in bed, I prayed to God, asking him to help me. I told him that if he allowed me to live, I’d give whatever extra monies I make in the store to charity.”
I knew that could put a huge crimp in his bottom line, but it seemed like the right thing to do. “So what happened?” I asked him.
He smiled and replied, “The very next morning, I started to get better.” What a relief, I thought. He continued. “After a few days, they let me out of the hospital. The next morning when I went back to the store, the girl I had running it for me told me about what had been happening.”
“And what was that?”
Opening up his cash drawer, he pulled out two twenties and a ten that were held together with a paper clip.
“What about it?” I asked, as I looked at the bills he was holding.
Jeff replied, “There is now fifty dollars more in the till than there was last night.”
I wasn’t sure I heard him right. “What do you mean fifty dollars more?”
“An extra fifty dollars has been showing up in the till almost everyday just like magic.”
“You mean, it just appears?” He nodded.
“My assistant said it started the day after I made my plea to God.”
Tingles ripped up and down my spine. I looked at him, my mouth hanging open. I didn’t know what to say. I mean what he was talking about sounded like an actual miracle. But it can’t be, could it?
Deciding that maybe it was a miracle he was talking about, I asked, “So what do you plan to do with the extra money?”
“Exactly what I said to God—donate it to a charity.”
“Have you decided which one?”
“A friend of mine runs and outreach for the homeless. They’re planning a prayer breakfast. I figure they could use some extra money.”
“Sounds like a good plan, except I have a couple of questions. How much longer do you think this money is going to keep showing up, and why tell me about it?”
“First, I realize you’re not the most religious person I know, but if anyone is going to believe me, I figured you would—you know with all that Feng Shui stuff. As for how long the money will last? I have no idea, but I’ll keep donating it as long as it keeps showing up.”
A couple of weeks later, Jeff called me about the prayer breakfast. “So how did it go?” I asked him.
“Great!” he replied. “But you’ll never guess how many people we fed.”
“How many?”
“Exactly five thousand.”
Once again, a chill ran through me. Hearing the number, made me think of that Bible story about the five loaves and two fish.
Coincidence or what?

• Share this story on
• 0