Cultivating habits of the heart early

“…Very early the next morning, Jesus got up and went to a place where he could be alone and pray” (Mark 1:35)

Mark 1:29-39 (Year B: Second Sunday before Lent: 4^th February 2018)

A day in the life of Jesus. He is up and out before sunrise – praying. The previous night he was engaged in healing after sunset in the house of Peter’s mother-in-law and before that he was at the Synagogue on the Sabbath with his small band of new followers.  Today, he is heading towards other places in Galilee. Always on the move, living from the centre of his being and in relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, Jesus moves among the people preaching, healing and setting people free.

Praying in solitary places was Jesus’ way of refuelling and recharging.

Praying in solitary places is not just for monks, spiritual nerds and other people with time on their hands. Praying in solitary places is for everyone including, I believe, people who say they are atheists and agnostics. There is a hole in every person’s heart to be filled with awe, wonder, conversation, asking, thanking and even cursing at times (the psalms can come in handy for this purpose!). The point is that everyone needs space and time to simply ‘be’. The story goes that the Protestant reformer, Martin Luther, said ‘I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours of my day in prayer.’  In recent times, Dag Hammarskjöld, a former Secretary General of the United Nations said that, because of his busy schedule, he got up an hour early to pray. When he was ‘extra busy’ he got up two hours early for the same purpose.

Spending two to three hours in prayer is not an option, I suspect, for most ordinary people like you and me. However, quiet times and spaces are a must.  A story is told that many decades ago a novice in a certain religious congregation who had not yet learned the art of ‘seeking forgiveness more than permission’ asked a brother who looked after novices if it was OK to smoke while praying. After a firm ‘NO’ he paused for a moment and asked ‘But, would it be OK to pray while smoking?’  High five!

The point of prayer is a ‘lifting up’ (some of us will remember our old ‘Green Catechism’) and opening out while going in….going into a secret place in the depths of our hearts that goes beyond space, time and consciousness.

Seriously.

And simply. 

Manuals, textbooks and various types of ‘guides’ tend to overcomplicate what is an altogether natural and wholesome thing for humans to do. We, the busy ones, are merely joining the rest of creation by resting in the anguish and glory of ‘Being’.

Pick your times and your place or places.

It might be on the top of the first bus into town for work (the driver can always wake you if you fall asleep before reaching the terminus!). It might be a little corner of your bedroom where you place a picture of a loved one, a bible, an icon or some other ‘reminder’.  It might be a place of fondness on a mountain or by the sea. And, crucially, it could be a place in the middle of a busy congregation gathered together to pray and break bread.  Just as the novice, in the story above, ‘prayed while smoking’ Christians delight to ‘pray while eating and drinking’ at the Eucharist. But, after some time in prayer the reality is that ‘Everyone is looking for you!’ (Mark 1:36).

The morning is a precious time of the day. As it says in the Psalm (5:4):

‘In the morning you hear me; in the morning I offer you my prayer, watching and waiting.’

Watching and waiting early, very early in the morning. A tonic for a weary, thankful and hopeful soul as a fresh day begins. As it is written in Isaiah (30:15):

‘..in quietness and trust is your strength..’ (‘A new spring in your step’)

Or in the first book of Kings (19:12):

‘And after the fire came a gentle whisper’

That still small voice that whispers gently to us in the quiet of the house or streets as the sun is rising.

A brother at the community of Taizé has put it:

‘So many Christians find in prayer the courage to take on responsibilities. Rooting themselves in the very wellsprings of Christ, they run the risks of faith.’

By going to the wellsprings deep within us (we are baptised, actually or by entrusting) we find the courage and the faith to risk everything while remaining rooted in the here and now and all that we are called upon to do this day. And just as the morning is the key to the day, the evening is the lock for the night.

Together let us praise the Lord for ourselves and others.

(words above = 824)

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Further reading: notes and questions, verse by verse

Preliminaries

Nearing the end of the first chapter and having called his first companions, we see Jesus move into full healing and mission mode.

29-31   Jesus cures Peter’s mother-in-law

As soon as Jesus left the meeting place with James and John, they went home with Simon and Andrew. When they got there, Jesus was told that Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with fever. Jesus went to her. He took hold of her hand and helped her up. The fever left her, and she served them a meal.

Early Christians saw in the lifting up of Simon’s mother-in-law a sign of the resurrection to come.  Jesus has declared that sickness, death and evil do not have the last word then or now.  The mother-in-law was quick on her feet to serve Jesus a meal.  It looks as if Simon-Peter’s friend Jesus was in very good standing that day with Peter’s mother! So also, we may presume was the wife of Peter who mostly likely was present at this healing (see 1 Corinthians 9:5).

32-34   Jesus heals many sick persons 

That evening after sunset, all who were sick or had demons in them were brought to Jesus. In fact, the whole town gathered around the door of the house. Jesus healed all kinds of terrible diseases and forced out a lot of demons. But the demons knew who he was, and he did not let them speak.

The Sabbath is over with sunset. Hence, healing is permitted according to the strictures of the Law.  Evil knows the Name of Love but Love is not overpowered by evil.

35         Jesus goes to pray in a solitary place,

Very early the next morning, Jesus got up and went to a place where he could be alone and pray. 

Timely and consistent prayer was a cornerstone in the life of ministry of Jesus.

36-37   In search of Jesus

Simon and the others started looking for him. And when they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you!”

38-39   Time to move on: Jesus sets the disciples’ sights on wider horizons

Jesus replied, “We must go to the nearby towns, so that I can tell the good news to those people. This is why I have come.” Then Jesus went to Jewish meeting places everywhere in Galilee, where he preached and forced out demons.