Sharing the Solitude

What do you do to rest?

When do you take time to be alone, to gather your strength, to compose your thoughts?

He said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. Mark 6:31

In today's reading we encounter Jesus and his disciples in the midst of the people, struggling to find time and a place to rest.

So, Jesus takes them aside, but they are not alone in their solitude.  They are accompanied by many who have no leader.

Jesus says they are like sheep without a shepherd.  How often have we felt like that?  How many times in our lives have we found ourselves surrounded by well wishers and good intentions, but lost and alone all the same?

A dear friend is going through hell these days.  He is struggling and battling against disease, and all of us are pulling for him, but he must feel alone.

It is his life that flashes before him, not ours.  It is his reality that invades his dreams and wakens him in the night.

We can say we empathize, perhaps even try to understand, but he is the one feeling what we can only imagine.

All we can do is be there for him.

We can go with him to the secluded spot where he goes to be with God.  We can sit and hold his hand.  We can embrace him and let him cry.

Sometimes we think we should stay away.  We should respect the need for solitude and silence.  But is that why God made us?

I believe we exist for each other, that our lives have greater value and meaning when we take on the role of servant.  To lead, we must serve.  To support, we must listen.  To heal, we must show patience.

For all of us who are not struggling at this moment, there is someone we know who is.

Seek them out.  Pray for them.  Be there for them.  Take them aside and sit with them in the silence.

It is our greatest gift, compassion.  We should give it away freely.

More to come...