Escape

Living in our busy world in a challenge of great proportions. Bombarded by the buzz of social media and the demands of work, family and other obligations can sometimes be overwhelming. Reflecting on today's Gospel reading I find the solution in Jesus' words "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest for a while." Oh how would I like to find that place. No e-mail, phone calls, work demands and so on. But upon deeper study I realize that the place can be found in the solitude of prayer.  I do not have the ability to escape the world's beckoning by rowing a boat beyond the crowds, but with discipline and the desire to meet God where I am every day in prayer and meditation I find solitude.

Having attended Mass at Trappist monastery for many years as a youth I learned about the discipline of rising early for prayer.  I found this quite interesting that men would rise around three in the morning for prayer and the morning liturgy.  What was the draw?  Fast forward a few decades in which I also rise not quite as early, but with the same intent to meet God and to reflect in silence on daily scripture.  There is something about this time that attracts me.  There are a few sounds of birds chirping and once in a while of a neighbor leaving early to work, but this is the deserted place that I think Jesus was talking about.  Yes, I am at rest. Elisabeth Leseur in today's Magnificat reflection states that "To pray is to live in constant, calm, strong, and lasting union with God." (pg 91) It is here where on my couch I feel that unity with my Creator. although the worldly concerns sometimes attempt to overwhelm me in the silence, I have found that place away from the crowds. It is here that after many years of filling myself with noise and emptiness that I am home.