Jesus Christ Superstar

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56


Ever had a time in your life when you always felt like someone wanted "a piece of you?"  Being so tugged and pulled in so many different directions that you weren't sure where or what to go to first?  That feeling is why we decide to retire, right?  All of us have some times in our lives when we feel that everyone around us is pulling us to do something for them, to help them, to be with them... and we feel like we have no time to be ourselves.


That's why I love this passage today.  I read this passage whenever I feel pulled in a thousand different directions because that is what is happening to Jesus here. He has people following him around and wanting something from him wherever he goes. He can run, but he can't hide. 


Reading this passage reminds me that Jesus feels my pain, understands what it is like to be overburdened by other people's demands.


So many times, when we see photos of famous people on TV or in magazines, etc., the photo we see is taken with dozens of other people standing nearby taking their own photos. Celebrities are never alone when they are out in public. They are always bombarded and find it very hard to escape from the constant crawl of the paparazzi.  What must that feel like? Jesus understood that, too.


My thought in this is always, also, "When does Jesus take care of himself?" He hardly every gets a chance to get away.  Some of my colleagues are always talking about self care... caring about yourself so that you can care for others. Important, of course. And definitely the reason that I am diligent about my Friday "Sabbath Family Time." But Jesus shows us time and again that living selflessly is a call from God.


What do we make of this story? What lessons does it have for us? Perhaps your tugs in life are from people, perhaps they are from decisions you need to make, perhaps they are from the voices in your own head, but all of us feel tugs at our time and our being... wanting us to move in different directions and do something here and something else there.  And all of us resist them from time to time.


How do you deal with the tugs of life? What pulls you around? How do you find a balance between being pulled around and pulling yourself back to center?


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