In Mark, the Feeding is bracketed by the invitation from Jesus for the disciples to have some personal time away. In Mark 6:30, Jesus tells the disciples they are to "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest for a while." Mark 6:46 notes that having fed the crowd and sent the disciples on ahead of him so they could rest, Jesus himself goes up on the mountain to pray.
In looking back over the notes I have sent, I realize that there are many which encourage you to get up and go, to reach out and witness. Today I want to acknowledge how important it is to sit back and relax. I want to read Mark 6 and remember that Jesus knew his disciples needed time to rest. We need to take our rest.
For some, it is restful to be among the faithful; for others rest can only come when they have solitude. How we rest differs from person to person, but we all must pay attention to the need for time away.
Jesus gives us many things. One of those things is the assurance that we need to be so anxious. He speaks of the birds of the air who neither toil nor labor but never go hungry.
It is my tendency to read the story of the Feeding of the 5,000 and want to organize a CROP Walk for hunger or line up volunteers for the soup kitchen. I invite you to remind me, as I start trying to get you to join me in my flurry of activity, that the 6th chapter of Mark has one feeding and two invitations to sit quietly. I invite you to allow yourself to make of this in your life.
No comments:
Post a Comment