The Rev. Shannan Hudgins is the settled minister of The Federated Church of Charlton, Charlton, MA. She stepped into congregational ministry following four years in hospice chaplaincy and bereavement support. Shannan enjoys hiking and walking, yoga, a good mystery read, and knitting. (Shannan reports that "Grandson Leo continues to be perfect. He's four months old and a glorious gift from the Universe.")
Scripture: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 (NRSV)
Feeding the Five Thousand
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
Healing the Sick in Gennesaret
53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. 54When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, 55and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the market-places, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
Reflection: A Missed Verse and a Time for Rest
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I recently read an essay about naps. The writer favors them. In fact, he takes time for one most days. His best naps unfold on a weekend afternoon when he’s been reading: his slowly drooping eyelids close and he drifts into sleep. Naps are the underrated super power of grownups! Why do we too readily relegate this rejuvenating break from life’s action to babies and toddlers?
My mother napped every afternoon. After work, she checked in with my brother and me, then headed up the stairs to the bedroom. “Don’t wake me up!” she sternly cautioned. When we accidently roused her from those magic twenty minutes, a bumpy evening followed. She slept only twenty minutes and awoke without an alarm. What I considered an annoying interruption to my afternoon’s raucous play, I now understand was expert management of a busy, stress-filled life. She embraced her body’s need for rest long before the term self care was coined.
This RCL passage from Mark for Sunday, July 21st, is notable for what it leaves out. The apostles are reporting to Jesus all their teachings and actions taken for the crowds. “He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’” [vs. 31 NRSV] They try to get away, but the needy crowds spot them, beating a path to their no longer deserted spot. The passage then skips to the last three verses of the chapter that detail crowds upon crowds following Jesus begging him for healing.
It's curious to me that the skipped verses contain two big-deal miracles of Jesus’ ministry: five loaves and two fish feeding five thousand men [vs. 44 NRSV], and Jesus walking on the sea from the shore to the apostles’ boat. This day’s sacred text message focuses on rest. In the midst of their preaching and teaching, soothing and healing so many weary people, Jesus invites his friends to rest a while. Tucked in the skipped verses is the why the disciples were in a boat out to sea without Jesus. “After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray” [vs. 46 NRSV].
Ministry has a well-earned reputation for being all-consuming. Jesus endorses rest for the apostles and by proxy, for us. I’ve not quite mastered the 20-minute, no-alarm afternoon sleep: it’s a work in progress I believe Jesus would endorse for you, too.
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PRAYER
Loving Protector, keep us ever mindful of extending the care and keeping we provide to our flocks to ourselves. You looked out for your disciples, and you look out for us. Thank you. Amen.
New Prayer Requests:
We ask churches and church leaders to join us in the following prayers either by sharing them during worship, printing them in bulletins, or sharing them in some other way. To make a prayer request, please contact Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane at cochranem@sneucc.org.
Prayers of Intercession:
- Prayers for peace as wars and conflicts continue to escalate around the world. Injustices and inequalities manifest as racism, discrimination, gender-based violence, economic disparities, and other issues.
- For those grieving or suffering due to the ~9,000 gun violence deaths that happened in the US since the start of the year.
- For summer safety.
- For the friends and family of The Rev. Dr. Rich B. Knight who passed way on July 6, 2024. Rev. Knight served churches in Sellersville, PA, York, ME, as well as Trinitarian Congregational Church in North Andover, MA, and Central Congregational Church in Chelmsford, MA. He was also an End of Life Coach.
Prayers of Joy and Thanksgiving:
This Week in History:
July 15, 1978 (46 years ago): The “Longest Walk”—a 2,800-mile trek for Native American justice that had started with several hundred marchers in California—ends in Washington, D.C., accompanied by thousands of supporters. The intent of the event was to call attention to issues affecting Native Americans, such as a lack of jobs and housing, and legislation before Congress that could dramatically change their rights. [History]
“Study the past if you would define the future.”
— Confucius
