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 in his care the disciples and all who seek him. Being tired is a likely result for Jesus. So too the disciples are tired, perhaps exhausted. The people too are 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? It holds to law and order but does not hold people in loving compassion and does not witness spiritual vibrancy. We are living in an exhaustive law and order culture now that also lacks loving compassion and spiritual vibrancy. U.S. culture is erupting with ever broadening calls for vengeful violence – by self-titled Christians. They assert they are aggrieved by the demise of the U.S.’ law and order culture. They offer a religious revival – meaning law and order (e.g. 10 Commandments) – but not a spiritual vibrancy. We remain exhausted by the instability, hostility, and violence. We may be tempted for a hole in the sand or perhaps for contact but in faceless crowds or scrolled entertainment. We gain comfort for our superficial self to the detriment of our deeper self. We are inundated with superficial likes and opinions and choices; politically, financially, theologically. In all the busyness we may just be trying to survive. In detriment to our soul, we live a manipulated life, from the outside in. We can make a shift and 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 spiritually vibrant. We are ready to go back out again, to be sent out even beyond our longings. We are willing to be transformed, willing to help transform others. 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