While Jesus understands the importance of a strategic withdrawal from work and the need to create a sacred space for a Sabbath rest, he also remains available and flexible to the pastoral care of God’s people. He models for the disciples what they themselves will have to learn as those “sent” by God and as future shepherds of God’s flock. There is never a convenient time for ministry. We should expect random interruptions. Whether as ordained clergy or lay leaders, we are called to suspend our immediate plans in order to care for those in need.
Max J. Lee, in Connections, Year B
As part of my spiritual journey, I am using the sermon-development process I learned last spring even on weeks when I don’t preach. This week’s Gospel passage is Mark 6:30-34, 53-56, which begins with the apostles being worn out from a mission trip and ends with Jesus swarmed by crowds seeking healing. The quote above is from a commentary on this passage.
I shared this commentary with my friend Ashley on Thursday. She told me a story with details I cannot divulge, but here it is in broad strokes. She had a lot going on this week, and particularly that day. Someone came to her in need, though. She realized that as important as her other tasks were, she had to deal with the crisis in front of her. Unfortunately, the interaction did not work out the way she had hoped. Such is the life of a case manager for the homeless. On a more positive note, a couple came in Friday to tell her that they had just signed a lease on a new apartment.
I am an engineer. My work revolves around a completely fabricated world. That is, we purposely design out complexity. We make sure that the things we want to ignore are actually too small to be relevant. Ashley’s work, though, is more organic. Life is complex. We all have visions that our lives will proceed gracefully in an essentially straight line towards our goals. Nobody actually lives like that, though. Life is less like walking up a staircase and more like climbing a mountain.
I hunt elk each fall near Durango, CO. First we have to hike in on a trail. The general trend is upwards (about 1000’ change in elevation), but unfortunately, the first quarter mile is downhill. We eventually reach the end of the trail and have to cross a wooded section to get to camp. There is no easy path through it, due to blowdown, only paths that are slightly less difficult. Then when we start hunting, we hike all around the mountainside. There are blowdowns to deal with, streams to cross, crevasses, and so forth. Often, the most direct route is not the easiest. Often, you reach a point where you cannot proceed and have to give up elevation that you’ve gained, go back, go down, go around the obstacle.
In the same way, life sometimes presents us with obstacles that we cannot overcome without first losing ground. Sometimes the right person can help us through them, though. I don’t know how things will work out with Ashley’s patron, but perhaps she was able to help them through a particularly tough bramble in life. Maybe the time wasn’t quite right for the ultimate solution to their problem, but her lovingkindness helped them get through one more day.
Seldom do we know how we impact the people around us. All we can do is show God’s love, even when it is inconvenient, and hope that God will use us to help each other through to our ultimate destination.
I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.
Etienne de Grellet