Arriving at Mom’s place late morning, usually, I help give her lunch, then roll her wheelchair over to a lighter, quieter spot where we, or at least I, can look out across Los Angeles to the mountains which encircle the city. Hollywood Hills, San Gabriel’s, San Bernardino’s: I’m not sure which I’m looking at.
Mom snoozes, arousing from time to time for a brief interaction. I play her some 40’s music on my phone and am so pleased to see her slight rhythmic motions, assuring me she hears and she enjoys.
After a couple of hours of that I leave for a restorative walk along the coast. Somehow, I missed lunch again. So I nibble on a bag of trek mixed nuts and a few raspberries. Today I added in a smoothie, but not a proper lunch. Not really.
The sermon this morning was looking at the transfiguration as told in Luke 9. The preacher commented that Peter’s suggestion to put up some shelters revealed his desire to make it last, so that he and the other two disciples could linger longer at this mountain top experience with Jesus.
I’ve had mountain top experiences, and am so grateful for them. But I have to confess that even in the most transcendent moment, I’ve rarely if ever been totally absorbed in the experience, but have usually been aware of those around me, or of the need to cook a meal, or even the nagging thought that it’s getting late and I need to get to bed.
That leads me to Martha. Mary chose the mountain top and was able to focus on what was best … time with Jesus … and resist the nagging guilt that she was dropping her responsibilities to help put supper on the table.
That brings me back to the nuts and berries, and skipping lunch. How often do I shorten, or even miss, mountain top experiences with Jesus because I am distracted by many things and prepared to live on spiritual nuts and berries instead of lingering to enjoy the feast Jesus wants to give me?
It feels like a no-brained, so why do I find it so hard?
I have been a Christian a long time, and I still have so much to learn. I’m asking God to help me develop focus and concentration, and the discernment to recognise where I am on the mountain, and the courage to choose pleasing Jesus rather than meeting others’, or even my own, human expectations.
At Jesus’ baptism, when the Father declared his love for his one and only Son, he instructed, ‘Listen to Him’. My prayer is that the Lord will transform me so that I am eager to tabernacle with God for however long he chooses, without falling prey to human motivations and distractions.
R
I really want to ‘listen to Him’, especially in these challenging times. Don’t you?
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