Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."

How many times do we just take the crumbs that are offered us? These crumbs may appear in the limits to job opportunities based on sex, race, or even who we love. They may also show up as limited access to healthcare because of how much money we make or because of where we live. Finally, these crumbs take the form of how much healing and care we allow ourselves and others through sabbaticals, self-care, spiritual formation, and even in death and dying.

What's harder, do you think, learning not to take crumbs or not to give them? They seem like part of the same loaf—metaphorically speaking.

In the Gospel of Mark we find Jesus entering a house where he "did not want anyone to know he was there." But he just couldn't escape notice anymore than we can at times. Jesus, being Jesus, was greeted at the house he was staying in by a woman whose child needed healing.

Now there's a detail in the text we can't forget: "the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin." (Mark 7:26, NRSV) Gentiles, during the early years, were not Jesus' target audience for ministry. So, although the Syrophoenician woman asks for her child to be healed, Jesus tells her "No, the children need to be fed before dogs." Well, the woman doesn't take this response lightly. She reminds Jesus that even dogs get the  "children's crumbs" that fall under the table. Jesus’ response? "Well, for saying that, your child is healed." I don't think the Syrophoenician woman had any intention of taking any kind of crumbs from Jesus for her child. And I think after this exchange Jesus had no intention of offering crumbs again. According to the Marcan gospel writer, in the next story, Jesus immediately heals another Gentile—this time, a deaf man with a speech impediment.

This issue of connections is focused on no longer taking crumbs for ourselves and for no longer offering them to others. It's time to eat the big loaf Jesus offers us over and over again.