Week of Proper 12, Year One
[Go to Mission St Clare for an online version of the Daily Office including today’s scripture readings.]
Today’s Readings for the Daily Office:
Psalms 72 (morning) // 119:73-96 (evening)
2 Samuel 3:22-39
Acts 16:16-24
Mark 6:47-56
Today’s gospel passage shows us how deeply Jesus and his disciples need to find points of stillness in their lives. The passage starts in the evening and describes a long night of the disciples dealing with exhaustion and fear. They are in a boat, “straining at the oars against an adverse wind.” When they see Jesus walking toward them on the water, they are terrified because they think he’s a ghost.
But then, Jesus gives them their point of stillness: “he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased.”
The stillness breaks all too soon, however. The boat reaches land, and people recognize Jesus right away. They rush all over the region “to bring the sick on mats to wherever he was.” Everywhere Jesus goes, “villages or cities or farms,” Jesus has a lot of work to do. His days are long and full.
What about us? Will we find a point of stillness today, between a night that leaves us tired and afraid, and a day jam-packed with people to serve and places to be? Between an exhausting night of insomnia or wakeful infants or fears and anxieties given free reign, and a day of meeting a tremendous caseload of needs? The disciples find their moment of stillness early in the morning, which is often a good time to find it. But the still presence of Jesus can find us anywhere, and let’s pray that it does at some point today.
Lora Walsh blogs about taking risks and seeking grace at A Daily Scandal. She serves as curate of Grace Episcopal Church in Siloam Springs and as director of the Ark Fellows, an Episcopal Service Corps program sponsored by St. Paul’s in Fayetteville, Arkansas.