Needing Some Downtime

Jesus went to Simon and Andrew's house, where Simon's mother-in-law was sick. He took her hand, and she was well again! Then everyone else who was sick came to be healed. 

Jesus went out alone to pray, but His followers told Him, "Everyone's looking for you." Jesus said, "Let's go to other towns." He traveled all over, teaching and healing wherever He went.

Lots of kids have crazy schedules. You go from school to piano lessons to basketball practice, then home to finish your homework before bed - and do it all over again the next day! 

Even if you're doing fun or interesting things, you sometimes want to just relax at home, not doing much of anything. 

Jesus would understand that idea, because in this week's Gospel (Mark 1:29-39), even He got tired and needed to leave town.

The problem with over-scheduling is that, once you manage to get through a crazy week, it's easy to end up with a bunch of crazy weeks. You want to protest that it isn't a good idea for a kid to be running from one event to another every day!

For Jesus, healing one person led to healing a bunch more - and the more people realized He could do miracles, the more everyone wanted their own miracle. Like an over-scheduled kid, Jesus ended up with a town full of people demanding His attention. He couldn't even find private time to pray.

Taking a break is important to any kid's schedule. If you're stressed out, you won't remember your piano lesson, finish your homework or play basketball well. You need some down-time.

For Jesus, staying in one place meant getting mobbed by crowds. His down-time was to travel with the Apostles to other towns, teach and heal there, and then move on. 

Hanging out with His friends and even walking from town to town was as important as performing miracles!

(02/05/09)