Ebb and Flow

Dear Ones,

“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Jesus invites the disciples, as the people, hearing of the great miracles that this man and his followers perform, to get away from it all. “Sit,” we think to ourselves, “the dishes can wait, the floor will be swept, the garbage will get taken out, the bills will be paid, the phone calls will be answered.” We make these demand of ourselves, especially when we want to sit. And we make these demand of others. We want our emails answered right away! We want traffic to move faster, so that we can make it quickly from one important activity to the next! We don’t want to get to that quiet place. Or are we afraid?

It has only been in the past couple of years that I have discovered that the quiet place Jesus invited to disciples to join him is not a place I can go to in mind alone.

I know well how to spend time in my mind: the mind is a place of action!

I must take my whole self to that quiet place: the longings, the fears, the painful feelings I do not want to feel, the shame, the anxiety, the rage. I must take all of these things to the place of quiet, that place of reflection. Most of us will keep on keepin’ on – anything – to avoid that quiet place!

In life there really is an ebb and flow. We live in a cycle of night and day, spring and summer, autumn and winter. Plants rest. Our pets rest. God invited people to join God in the Sabbath – a day of rest from all the frantic activity of the week. There’s the calm before the storm, when the storm is gathering. The sea ebbs and flows.

Trust the ebb and flow of your life, whatever comes. You, too, have a quiet place that trusts completely.

meb