Come away...and rest a while

Today's sermon at church focused on the Gospel of Mark 6:30-34 where Jesus tells his apostles to, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." The pastor used a cell phone as a prop and reminded us all too well, just how ridiculous we sound or look at times when observed by others as they pass us in their cars, or stand next to us at the checkout counter of the grocery store as we gab on in more often than not, meaningless conversations. It seems that we are so preoccupied with the latest gadgets and the necessity to know what someone is doing at every moment, that we don't even realize how little quiet, let alone rest we have in our day.

Last weekend, my husband and I took a rare trip to a movie theatre to watch a new release we wanted to see on the "big screen". After paying $15.00 to get into the matinee and another $5 for various munchies to eat during the much anticipated event, we finally found two empty seats in a very crowded auditorium. Before the previews even began, a young girl in front of us began talking quite loudly on her cell phone, oblivious to those around her and seeming to ignore the couple accompanying her. The conversation mercifully came to an end, but then the TEXTING began, and it continued through the ENTIRE movie, creating a huge distraction for both my husband and myself, that we were unable to enjoy the movie. This experience in the movie theatre is not uncommon. We see it and hear it everywhere we go. There is very little quiet and very little rest in our world today.

Mark's gospel goes on to tell us, "When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd." Have things changed much in the 2,000 years since the gospel writer penned these words? Should we have pity on the person in the restaurant who is having more of a conversation with the person on their cellphone than the one sitting across the table from them? How about people who are more comfortable texting or instant messaging than they are with a face to face conversation? How has technology interfered with our sensitivity to quiet and restfulness?

When I am lucky enough to find the time to get away to a beach or a mountain lake, I love leaving my laptop behind and my cellphone in the car. As much as I love and embrace technology, I am also very cognizant of the effect it can have on me. The fact that I keep a Blog should be evidence of this. So as I listened to today's sermon and laughed at the silliness of my behavior at a few grocery store check out lanes, I only pray that someone will have pity on me the next time they see me talking on my cellphone at a stoplight.