In the Crowded Aloneness

 

This week, we are holding space in our hearts for three references to Jesus resting in Mark’s gospel.  The last one has an edge to it.  Jesus healed a beloved of God, but the neighbors now protest Jesus’ presence.  Jesus hangs out on the edges, the fringe of town, because the people have blocked or barricaded him from entering.  While people still come to Jesus, Mark says that Jesus stayed in a “lonely place” (Mark 1:45).  Surrounded by people but lonely; connected to a worldwide web of human beings but feeling isolated.  This paradoxical problem of being together and alone is true not only for Jesus but for all of us, too.  We live in a culture where loneliness is an epidemic.  Some research says that not connecting to others is as dangerous to our health as smoking!  Oftentimes, Sabbath can become an individual activity, but resting need not mean isolating.  How can we practice rest with others?  Rest can have a communal dimension.  This might involve praying or singing together, talking to a friend for longer than a few texts back and forth, or being in silence together.  How might your Sabbath rest practice expand from a solo activity to a holy communal moment that your life is calling for right now?  May God bless both the thinking and living out of this question in/through you.  Amen.