Thursday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
After Bill’s luggage was lost (never to be recovered), not on the international leg of our trip but on a short direct flight from Atlanta to Dayton, we resolved never again to check a bag. With a bit of internet research on how small a bag has to be to make it onto pretty much any flight going anywhere, I headed to the mall and picked out a couple of very compact carryon bags.
When we packed those bags for a two-week trip to Germany (and elsewhere) for a conference and then some vacation time, it was pretty challenging! Figuring out how to get everything we needed in those two little bags—including clothes appropriate to give a couple of conference talks in along with casual wear for the vacation part of the trip—was a real challenge! But it was so worth it! It was great as we went here and there by train or plane to have just our backpacks and those two bags. Since that trip we have actually come to enjoy the picking out just what we need and nothing more, rolling up our items of clothing, and tucking them snuggly into the two sides of our bags. Add our toiletries and a pair of shoes, and we are ready to go.
More than that, we have especially come to enjoy moving about airports towing our compact roller bags, each with a backpack slid over the extended handle and resting on the roller bag. Pretty slick! And, as you can tell by my description of this, it’s fair to say that we take a certain pride in our ability to “travel light.” Pride might not be quite the right word. When we pass someone waiting to check their truly giganto bag at the counter, we feel—well, let’s just say it—smug.
As I read the passage from Mark today, I had one of those experiences (I’ve had them a number of times over the years) when the gospel seems to extend a hand right out of the page and to give me a pretty good (metaphorical) slap on the face! Traveling light, you say, Sue? Feeling pretty good about that compact roller bag and backpack combo? Try this on for size.
How about you head out (not to give some paper at a conference or to chill out on a beach) but to share the good news of God’s grace (that part might be well received) along with Jesus’ teachings like the ones in which he talks about how hard it’s going to be for a rich man to get into heaven, or the one where he says that you should love your enemy, or the one about turning the other cheek? Oh, and by the way, you won’t need that carryon since you’ll be on foot and you’ll only have with you a staff, one pair of sandals, and a tunic (just one). Moreover, without an itinerary, map, or hotel reservation, you can look forward to wandering into this or that village and hoping someone will take you in, listen to what you say, and (instead of kicking you out for your radical ideas) feed you and put you up for the night.
Now, that is traveling light. And I’m confident that I could not pull that off. I have to give it to the disciples. They had a heck of a lot of faith in Jesus and trust in God to undertake that journey. And having been rightly “slapped” by Mark’s gospel, I’ve got some praying to do.
Dear Lord, I don’t think I could ever travel as lightly as the disciples did on their journey. But I pray that I’ll keep trying to have greater faith and trust in you and more willingness to make myself vulnerable to others. And may your Word keep making me humble. Amen.