Jul 15 2019 Mark 1: 29-45

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.

Jesus has just healed the mother of one of his apostles, the whole town has crowded around the door, and throughout the night, he’s healed many demons. In the wee hours of the morning, Jesus leaves, finds a deserted place and prays.

This resonates with me this morning. I feel like I’ve had that kind of day, or week – full of busy, full of doing.

I’ve just returned from a wonderful, whirlwind trip to Manhattan – buzzing with the energy only New York has, and to Wisconsin – buzzing with my husband’s three sisters, 13 of their first cousins, their parents and kids and grand kids, easily 35 in total.

The trip concluded earlier than intended with returning to take care of my sick loved one. Changed flights, rented cars, time zone differences, means we got in at what felt like 3:30AM, and awoke a little later than normal, but still hours short of sleep. And while that change was the right thing to do, it’s been inherently unrewarding, because our sick loved one is still sick, still surly, still foul-mouthed. We know they appreciate our mini-rescue mission, but you’d never know it.

So after all of that – city buzz, immediate and extended family buzz, travel challenge buzz, mental illness buzz – I’m absolutely ready for a deserted place. The great news about our changed plans is that it put us back in town with one day free before returning to work Tuesday. Today, I will strive to find those deserted dark places, in the midst of vacation reentry – laundry, groceries, errands.

This morning I’m thinking about how my need today for going away to a deserted place is apparent, partly because I’ve had a buzz-filled week. But in normal weeks, with normal demands, I also need to go find a deserted place and pray. It’s less compelling because there’s always something that needs to be done, and I don’t have as much apparent ‘need’. But still, life happens. We all need times of solace and prayer and stillness.

I need to work on building in those moments on a daily and weekly basis. Maybe put them in my calendar. Or actually use a weekend day as a Sabbath. It’s funny how much harder it is to plan to do little, than to plan to do a lot. Today, I want to come up with one way to build in time for going off to my own deserted place to pray.