Upon the disciples returning from their healing mission, Jesus “said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.’” “People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with compassion for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.”
Jesus does his best to hold the disciples and the people seeking them in his care. The disciples are dealing with a problem, being tired, perhaps exhausted. The people are likely dealing with that same problem of exhaustion. Is it the case that their shared exhaustion is more than a particular problem needing to be individually solved? Is it perhaps a spiritual malaise of a culture needing to be held in care? They are all living in a culture that mandates law and also order. It does not long to be compassionate. As such, it does not witness spiritual vibrancy. We are living in such an exhaustive culture now. it is frantic with so much upheaval in its law and order based ruling system. Care and compassion are minimized in this culture that longs for retribution. The culture is erupting with ever broadening calls for violence – ironically by people asserting they are aggrieved by the demise of the U.S.’ law and order culture. But, longing to target enemies for retribution is not Jesus’ Way – a man who witnessed a spiritual vibrancy. Living in the U.S. culture exposes us to a deep spiritual malaise. Like the seekers in the Gospel, we feel a disquiet, a distress – sometimes to the depth of our soul. As Jesus is aware, so too we can be aware of how the instability, hostility, and violence of our ailing culture can exhaust us. We may be tempted to long for a hole in the sand or perhaps for contact but in crowds or entertainment that will give comfort to our ego, to our superficial self to the detriment of our deeper selves. If so, we become bereft of our soul; bereft of the nourishment our soul provides. We become immersed in our superficial self that provides us with our superficial likes and opinions and choices; politically, financially, theologically. In all the busyness we may just be trying to survive. The longings of our deeper self feel farther and farther away. We live a manipulated life, from the outside in. We can live from the inside out. We can rest in the silence of our deeper self, Present to the Source of Meaning. We experience our True Self. We experience the depth of our essential character. We can thus engender wise decisions and actions. In that rest, we are living from our Soul. Soul is our creative core which nurtures the seeds of our beauty, our giftedness. Seeds are embryos teeming with vitality. When we rest in the depth of our soul, living as seeds, we are longing to be vulnerable, to be opened. Like the disciples, we are willing to be sent out beyond our longings – to be transformed, willing to help transform others. Ours is a life of spiritual vibrancy. It is good for us to ‘come away and rest a while.’
“God speaks to each of us as we are made, then walks with us silently… These are the words we dimly hear: You, sent out beyond your recall, go to the limits of your longing… Flare up like a flame and make big shadows… Let everything happen to you… Just keep going. No feeling is final. Don’t let yourself lose… (you). Nearby is the country they call life… Give me your hand.” (Go To the Limits of Your Longing – Rainer Maria Rilke)
Prayer: For what do I long in the Spiritual life?
Question: How do I rest in my Soul?
July 21, 2024 Gospel Mark 6:30-34 Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time