I told a friend recently that I was able to get away for a few days of quiet retreat. He’s a husband and a father of three and said, “I would give anything for a few days of quiet!” His was a sobering reminder of how privileged some aspects of my life are. It was also a telling comment about how hectic modern life is for most people.
A few weeks ago I heard a radio interview with an author who wrote a book on how to create some more human and quiet spaces in our lives. He said he, his wife and his two children were like most American families, constantly “wired.” Even when the family was together in the same room, one or more members would be texting or would leave the room to answer or make a cellphone call. This father said, “We were together, but only physically and not as a family. We were distracted by our technological gadgets that were putting us in touch with the outside world, but causing us to lose touch with one another.
So, he and his wife decided to turn off their household wireless connection for the weekends. In addition, each member of the family had to put his or her cell phone in a basket till Sunday night. They used their land line for any incoming important calls, but no one was allowed to use a cell phone. They also did not watch television. At first they didn’t know what to do now that they were electronically disconnected. But soon they began to make better connections with one another. They talked more to each other, went for walks together, read quietly in the same room and, the father said, “We got used to the quiet, even to like it!”
I don’t know how many families are ready to take such a drastic step. But from what my other friend said about his yearning for some quiet time, it does seem like we are going to have to figure out some way to do what Jesus encouraged his disciples to do, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”
One thing I like about today’s story is that it prevents us from romanticizing the situation Jesus and his disciples found themselves in. Remember last week’s gospel, when Jesus sent the Twelve out on mission? Mark told us, “The Twelve drove out many demons and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them” (6:13). “Many.” Sounds like exhausting work, no wonder Jesus wanted them to go apart and rest!
There is no rest for Jesus and his weary disciples. The people are desperate and they get to the place first and are waiting for Jesus and his disciples to arrive. (Mark’s gospel is one rushed and busy scene after another.) Jesus sees their needs and responds as a shepherd, because “they were like sheep without a shepherd.”
The shepherd is a recurring image in both Testaments. In the Hebrew texts the shepherd and king are associated. Israel yearned for another shepherd king like David — but they were often frustrated. Jeremiah criticized King Zedekiah and others like him. “Woe to the shepherds….” They were supposed to gather and lead God’s people, instead their neglect scattered the flock. The consequences of such poor and corrupt leadership were dire: Jerusalem was destroyed and the people were taken into exile.
Jeremiah makes a promise. God will take back the flock and shepherd them. God will rescue them by sending a righteous leader who has the heart and mind of God. Readers of Mark’s gospel, especially today’s passage, will note that once again God fulfills the promise God made to the people. Jesus is the promised shepherd who will gather and feed God’s weary flock. There was much work to do — then as well as now. Jesus wanted rest for the returning band of missionaries, but real life pressed in on them. So, they didn’t get a chance to go for rest, reflection on their mission and further instructions from Jesus.
Still, the point is valid, I think — we all need to figure out how to get to our own “deserted places.” That might be a few minutes in the car before we pop out for work; a pause in the yard after we throw out the garbage at night; a walk in the park; turning off the television and just sitting; listening to any music that helps us go inward for a brief period, etc. Not all attempts by Jesus to withdraw to a quiet place were frustrated, as we read in 1:35, 45.
Jeremiah promised a shepherd king like David to “reign and govern wisely,” who will “do what is just and right in the land.” By our baptism each of us is called to continue the shepherding mission of Jesus — and it can be very tiring! We do that in daily, unofficial ways by how we teach and set good example for our young. Did you notice what Jesus, the shepherd, did immediately when they disembarked and saw the needy crowd? He taught them.
We don’t want our young to have a false notion of God, or a diminished notion of their worth before God. So we teach. But we also need some reflective time ourselves to dwell on God’s Word, lest our teaching be more about idols we fashion from our own thoughts, than about our shepherd Jesus.
Some of us are engaged in full or part-time ministry within our church community. What is said above is true for us as well; we also need to figure out how to “come away by yourselves” for short and even an occasional longer period, to hear the Word of God for ourselves, but also for those we are called to shepherd through our teaching. The bottom line: all of us are sent to share our knowledge of Jesus, a knowledge that isn’t primarily found in books or doctrine, but as a result of our personal encounter with Christ.
At this Eucharist we are the often-scattered sheep. Jesus, the shepherd, gathers us from the many locations where we live, work and pass our days. What we have in common and what draws us to this special pasture, is the faith that, with our shepherd we are well cared for, nourished with the Word of God and the living Body and Blood of Christ.
The shepherd does again what he has done before: he sends us out well fed to return to the places where each of us is called to be shepherd. We don’t go out on our own, we are animated by the Holy Spirit — the same Spirit that sent Jesus into the desert at the beginning of this gospel (1:12-13), was his strength under temptation and never left him as he set out to shepherd God’s waiting people.