Psalms 119:145-176; Judges 18:16-31; Acts 8:14-25; John 6:1-15We all need to find time, besides sleeping, in which to rest, to think, to settle things in our mind, to pray. Life is so very hectic and full, some of it our own doing, some of it not. Down time is so very important. For me it is the difference between a vacation where I am someplace where I have to go sightseeing as opposed to a vacation where I can simply relax. Both are of equal value, we choose the one that best suits our needs at the time we are making those plans. It is easy to forget that we need both of these kinds of vacation to thoroughly refresh us.
Jesus gives us the model of down time today. He performs a major miracle in front of thousands of people, who react as is to be expected: they want to make him king. He knows that is not his path and he escapes that reward, (or is it punishment?) He goes and he prays, he has some alone time with God.
I believe we can pray anywhere and anytime in life, all of these efforts being equally effective. There are times though when it is very important to have some quiet time in which to center ourselves and allow ourselves to be in the presence of the Holy without a lot of distraction fighting for our attention. This can be an enormously vulnerable time making many people uncomfortable. If we live into that uncomfortableness, we will find God will be there with us.
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Copyright 2008, John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.
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