Monday, July 28, 2008

Today’s text

Matthew 14:13-14

When Jesus received this news he withdrew by boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. But the crowds heard of this and, leaving the towns, went after him on foot. So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them and healed their sick.

Prayer

A mystery rests in our souls, Jesus. No, the mystery is our soul. It is the mystery of desire, of wanting.

We are fashioned around a center of burning want that no act of will or discipline can escape or deny. We are our want.

That is how the Loving Mystery created us. You made us to want, and our desire is the most beautiful thing about us. It is also the most ugly and frightening when it turns from its intended object.

Our inescapable inborn desire insists on relationship and nurture from our mothers when we are infants. It moves us to crave the human nearness that provides protection of body and spirit. Desire drags us from isolation into the lives, hearts and arms of others so that we may be truly human.

Want also moves us to you, Jesus. There are a several reasons why a first century crowd in Palestine might have sought you: curiosity, fear of the diseases that haunted their families, hunger, anger at the political forces that oppressed them.

But beneath and preceding all such historical reasons is this desire, this want for more that moves us to seek that which satisfies the heart, gives it rest and fulfills its purpose. We didn’t create this craving. You did. We cannot slake this desire. You can.

So we come to you as did the crowds: wanting. Seldom can we give a name to our desire. We only know that we need you. So we come. Let us know you that our hearts may find healing and home.

Pr. David L. Miller