Take Time to Make Time
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany – Year B
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany – Year B
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Let us pray: Holy One, who makes all things possible, lift us when we are weary. Be our strength, and fill us with hope as we seek to serve you and our neighbour this day. Amen.
It's almost a throwaway verse in the gospel passage that we've just heard. The story comes from the most succinct and direct of the four gospels, that of Mark, and this verse is a prime example of this minimalist characteristic of Mark's narrative on the life and ministry of Jesus. Mark's writing style follows the principle of “why use two words when one will do”. As such, there is urgency in Mark's telling of the story. That urgency is not lost in the events described in today's reading. Last week's reading had Jesus speaking in the synagogue followed by an encounter with an outspoken man experiencing some kind of spiritual turmoil. The point Mark makes in that reading is that Jesus is not only prepared to tell the story, he is prepared to live the story. Words and actions – actions that back up the words – are an important part of the faith life. And all that in a few short verses.
Today we hear that upon leaving the meeting place – the synagogue, Jesus pays a visit to the house of Simon and Andrew. James and John were there too. Simon's mother-in-law is ill, but as we've already heard, Jesus is a healer – apparently skilled in both spiritual and physical healing, and the touch of the healer works for this woman as well. It's not hard to imagine that the stories of healing, along with spiritually charged meetings in the synagogue would spread, and pretty soon there were people lined up at the door to see what Jesus could do for them.
I can imagine that the pressure was quite intense. So many people in need, so little time. How many of us haven't had those same feelings at some point in our lives?
And then comes the verse that you could almost miss. While it was still night, way before dawn, Jesus got up and went to a secluded spot to pray. The time away wasn't going to last. True to the urgency depicted elsewhere in Mark's gospel record, we hear that Simon interrupted this important time away for Jesus. Perhaps it was a guilt trip Simon was laying on Jesus, or perhaps just Simon's answer to those same feelings of having so many people in need and so little time to deal with them.
This week it was my turn to lead worship with the people at Aven Manor. In preparing for that I used a resource that I have in my library. It came from one of several books of reflections put together by Robert Wallace, a retired United Church minister as an aid to people who are called upon at short notice to offer a
so-called “devotional” at a church meeting or gathering. If nothing else, and certainly they are more than that, but if nothing else, these resource books provide helpful seeds for thought in preparing for my gatherings with the folks at Aven Manor. I chose from among the many options, a reflection that the Rev. Wallace wrote on reflection. He didn't use today's Mark passage as his source, but he well could have. It was a particula comment in his reflection that gave me pause for my own contemplation and preparation for worship this week.
There is no question that we live incredibly busy lives. I remember in the packed days before Christmas just past, looking ahead to January and the relatively less busy time it seemed to offer. Well, we all know what that's like. January was gone in a flash, February is already more than a week old, and I've already been heard several times bemoaning the incredible pace that living in today's world seems to put upon us. There are so many things to do, so many important events to attend, so many people to spend time with, so many books to read, so many projects to complete. Work, social lives, volunteer activities, children's activities all have us running around like Energizer bunnies at the best and bedraggled, sleep deprived zombies at the worst.
The thought that stopped me short in Thursday's reflection is this. People who are able to handle complicated and busy lives very well know that it actually takes time to make time. It's a message that seems to run exactly opposite to the expected answer. How can we possibly make time by taking time – and by that we mean taking time for reflection, meditation, prayer – I consider them in many ways to be synonyms of each other. It would seem, at first blush, that taking time away – taking time in quiet reflection, prayer or meditation is only adding one more thing to an already overly busy life. But the fact is that a focussed time, and it doesn't have to be long time, that a focussed time of meditation or contemplative prayer, actually does help us to make time. I've actually experienced it during all too short periods of my life when I've tried it. And Thursday's reminder was important for me as just that, as a reminder not just to try it again, but to hopefully make it part of my faith life.
And that's the important message from the almost to be missed line from the gospel of Mark this morning. Jesus knew about it too. Of course he had to slip away before dawn, and the time was still cut short by impetuous Simon (also known as Peter), but Jesus knew that he had to take time to make time.
There's an old adage that a change is as good as a rest. I think there's something to it. And Jesus, having had his quiet prayer time interrupted, responds by suggesting that he and his disciple friends need to move on to some of the other communities in the area to share the message in word and action.
I want to close this morning by reading just a bit of the reflection that led me to do some of my own reflection and make a recommitment to add some focussed meditation time to my life.
Hear these quotes and paraphrases from Robert Wallace's Reflection on Reflection: “Many feel that they are too busy. The fact is, however, that the reduction of stress that accrues makes us so much more effective that, ultimately, time is gained and not lost....Part of being there [in God's presence] is to find time in stillness, Joan Borysenko in her book, Mending the Body, Mending the Mind points to healthful techniques of meditation that include intentional breathing, changing the rhythm of our respiration to the more relaxing abdominal breathing; body stretching to induce relaxation and easing tension and “mindfulness”, and thus allow us to “live in the now”. This is to reflect, to hold ourselves before the presence of God. Not to talk, but to watch and hear, to let the silence steal over uslike a mantle and then within the silence to hear the still small voice that always speaks a message of hope and wholeness.”
We'll have a brief chance to try some of these in just a few moments, but first let us sing of what I speak. Come and Find the Quite Centre. Number #374. Amen.