Let us pray: O God, we constantly live in a balance between the urgency of living busy lives, and the necessity of finding time for refreshment and renewal. Help us to find that balance, that our lives may be faithful to you. Amen.

In 1989, Shirley Murray wrote the words, “Come and Find the Quiet Centre in the crowded life we lead”, which at least in the circles I run in, has become a much loved hymn. The reasons are obvious, speaking as it does about the need to slow down and get in touch with a place where we feel renewed and centred against the chaos and clutter which so often surrounds us in our busy lives. The hymn speaks to us like a much-needed companion, telling us to let go and let God.

A couple of years before Shirley Murray wrote that hymn, the Iona Community, a Christian community on the western coast of Scotland, known for its ability among other things to provide a place for people to find that quiet centre, is credited with these words to yet another hymn, “Will you come and follow me if I but call your name...” which at least for me carries with it a sentiment that runs counter to that image of quiet contemplation, calling on an urgency that was apparent in both the reading from the Hebrew Bible and the Gospel this morning.

Let me recall the gospel story for you briefly. It begins in the 29th verse of Mark’s gospel. In the previous twenty-eight verses, Jesus has encountered John and been baptised, spent forty days of preparation in the wilderness, called the disciples, cast out an evil spirit in a man who had confronted him at a teaching session. That’s the way Mark’s gospel is - paring the detail down to the bare minimum, and thereby creating an urgency in the story and the message that Jesus had for the people. With this frenzy of activity, there is a sense that Jesus is ready for a break. Today’s passage begins with Jesus arriving with four of his disciple friends at the home of Simon and Andrew, presumably for supper. But even here, demands are placed upon him, and he is called to bring healing to Simon’s mother-in-law. This results in lineups at the door by people who are looking for similar attention. This lasts well into the night. Jesus gets up in the wee hours of the morning, and finds a quiet place by himself. But his departure was noticed and the disciples found him and called him into continued service with the same urgency as before. “There are people waiting”, they told him. Mark doesn’t tell us what Jesus’ mood is during this interruption. We don’t know whether it is with resignation, or renewed commitment, or sudden realisation that he answers, “Let’s go to the other villages, so that I can speak to people there too.”

It sounds as if Jesus is trying to seek that balance that we all need, but the urgency of the task at hand, and the continued urging of his friends are making it difficult. I wonder how many of us can relate.

The call to seek justice is an urgent call. There is much to do and the work is never done. It’s a call that speaks to us from around the corner and around the world. Wherever we look there are people who need help and situations that could use our involvement. There are families to care for, careers to attend to, and pastimes to pursue. There are things to learn, skills to teach and projects to perfect. How do we know when to say “no” and when to say, “I am willing to devote my time and talent to this with energy and commitment.”

The call to care for ourselves is also an important endeavour. When we don’t have time to centre ourselves in God’s spirit, we can lose direction and our commitment can fade. The search for a quiet centre where chaos and clutter are swept aside is not a callous disregard for the urgency of God’s call to justice, it is all part of the equation. As I mentioned a moment ago, when the disciples found Jesus and urged him to keep on doing what he was doing we don’t know what Jesus’ temperament was. Sometimes we do have to respond with resignation - but we can’t do that too often, sometimes we don’t have enough time to ourselves, but even a small amount can be help us to renew our commitment. We can also spend too much time trying to find the quiet centre - sometimes the quiet centre is to be found amidst the chaos and confusion and not in a place apart.

It would be nice if we always knew just exactly how much time we needed to spend in renewal and refreshment and just how much time we needed to spend in working for justice and community building, how much time we needed to commit to family concerns and work pressures and the hobbies and interests which allow us to exercise other parts of our being. It would be nice if we could always make that decision for ourselves without pressure from others to urge us on, or to chide us about doing too much.

I hope you are not sliding forward on your chairs and craning your neck just a bit in the hope that you are going to hear a once and for all answer. Unfortunately, I don’t have any sure answers to this modern dilemma, although given the message we heard from the gospel passage, I’m not sure how modern the dilemma really is. It’s probably more a case that the things that occupy our time have changed a bit. Jesus didn’t have to check his email, but it also wasn’t a quick half-hour flight to Capernaum or a short bus ride to Jerusalem at 100 km per hour. I don’t have any sure answers, but I do try to keep my mind open to new insights and ideas. Amidst all of this, I try to be attuned to what God is saying to me - for I don’t believe that God calls us to tasks that we can’t accomplish and it is as much a desire of God that we care for ourselves as for those around us. I am also keenly aware that our own selfish needs can give God a pretty good run in trying to discern what is right for us in any given time and situation. That for me, is why it is good to have a time of confession as part of our worship.

I also take heart from insights that come from current events. I was speaking with someone this week about the theme for this worship service, and I mentioned that I was going to be speaking about finding that balance that we all seek in life. I said that while this was not necessarily a main theme of the gospel passage, it is one that was speaking to me for the reasons I have already described. I also mentioned that this has been a week when we’ve heard from three so-called front runners in the unofficial campaign to lead the decimated Liberal party. All three of them - Frank McKenna, John Manley and Brian Tobin have indicated that a leadership campaign is not a way for them to seek a balance for their lives. While some Liberal party supporters might be disappointed by these announcements I am actually encouraged that some people have chosen to balance personal needs with the temptation to seek a position of power. I have often been discouraged when the media has portrayed a situation like a void in a leadership position as an unavoidable attraction, and why would anyone with a certain amount of fame and support want to pass up the opportunity. Well, guess what, maybe that call to find a quiet centre has spoken to at least three people. And it is just possible that God has chosen to speak to us through the decision of these three people - to say that there are things more important than the call to find fame and fortune. I am reminded of the board game Careers which postulated that success in life could be accomplished by finding some combination of Fame, Happiness and Fortune. An interesting idea, but naive to say the least, and severely lacking in a number of other important factors leading to fulfilment in life.

Ultimately, the ability to seek a balance in our lives, is the ability to listen carefully to the call of God, weighing the need to love our neighbours as ourselves, weighing the input from friends and colleagues around us and discerning our altruistic and selfish needs in the mix. As I prayed at the beginning of this reflection, let me pray again: O God, we constantly live in a balance between the urgency of living busy lives, and the necessity of finding time for refreshment and renewal. Help us to find that balance, that our lives may be faithful to you. Amen.