But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. (Luke 5:15-16)
HOW ARE YOU doing? The mental and emotional toll that this last year has put on us all is not something to avoid. It is also not something to shrug off, disregard or internalize.
For many, it is hard to even remember what life was like before the pandemic.
I am not just talking about seeing people’s facial expressions, literally unmasked before us. No, I am talking about what the flow of our lives looked like and how we cared for ourselves.
Everything from practicing our faith, going on dates with our significant others and how we live as families has been dramatically altered.
Sadly, what we have all experienced is that all these sudden and constant changes are exhausting, defeating and leaving a lot of people with a hopeless and helpless mindset.
We have become suspicious of others, even when we do little things like pump gas, pick out apples at the supermarket or walk by each other on the sidewalk.
In many cases, the impact of these past months has led to hostility, dysfunction and division.
We must see how the health of our community, and our nation, is grounded in our mental health and the health of our relationship to others.
This year has shown that, and it has shown how desperately we need to be intentional, observant, empathetic and aware of our self-care.
In the text above from the Gospel of Luke, the evangelist records how Jesus took His self-care seriously, intentionally making time for it.
I often think that if the Son of God, the Word made flesh, who the angelic chorus praised with anthems that filled the night sky needed self-care, perhaps that should be a model and reminder to us that we are not invincible.
Yes, He was the Son of God, the long-expected messiah, but He was also true man and shared in our sufferings, feeling every part of our weaknesses.
He experienced hunger, thirst, exhaustion, grief and pain. With all of that, and as we examine His life and ministry, we see that He holds His self-care as important as reaching out to the lost, sick and demon possessed (Mark 1:35).
In those moments of solitude with His Father in Heaven, He was strengthened for the road ahead that led to the cross (John 17:1-25; Mark 14:32-42).
He needed self-care, and so do we.
Distracting ourselves with online shopping and twinkling lights simply will not suffice.
Nor will the various forms of self-medication that we find ourselves gravitating to this time of the year, such as eating, alcohol and whatever else our imaginations conjure up.
No, instead, let us go to a desolate place and pray. Let us go to the arid soul that we have neglected within us, the rocky heart that petrified over these months, or perhaps into the darkened trappings of our mind and pray, resting there with our Lord (Matthew 11:28).
This time of the year we reflect on the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promise to restore the world to Himself through the life of His Son.
It forces us to go to desolate places.
The desolate place of a manger in a small town 2,000 years ago when the cries of our infant savior were mixed with the lowing sounds of livestock.
This time of year, we are invited into the desert with John the Baptist, who heralds the good news that the Kingdom of God and the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world, draws near.
Near to you, to me, searching us out in our desolate places that we may be filled.
In this life, we will have disappointment, challenges, constant change, grief, sorrow, illness and strife.
This life, and our body and soul, constantly experiences the ravages of the wilderness of this world.
But the effects and the condition of our sin-sick lives and world is precisely why the Word became flesh and dwelt among us — so that we can know our worth, our purpose and source of strength.
He intervened so we can find rest for our mind, body and soul.
The healing and life that Christ offers for all those who run to Him and drink deeply from His cup of Salvation, provides us a spring that touches the most desolate places of our being and restores us not for a moment, but for eternal life (Psalm 23; John 4).
He came that Christmas morning, and still comes to you today for precisely the struggles that you are experiencing.
He invites you to self-care, found as you rest in Him and experience the peace He came to bring.
So, how are you doing?
Perhaps it’s time to take our self-care seriously, to return to where safety and security are found in spite of the world.
Returning to Him and resting in Him, we have an anchor for our lives that does not give way to the dysfunction we see around us.
It directs us in how we relate to one another, it helps us see that the person at the gas pump, supermarket or on the sidewalk is not someone to be feared but loved as they share the gift of being called a child of God.
It refocuses our attention toward the love we are to demonstrate toward our significant other, our families and neighbors.
He alone gives the strength to heal relationships, bind up the broken hearted and set us on a path of restoration.
May this Christmas, and this coming New Year, be one not defined by the litany of difficulties we face, but by how our Lord is faithfully carrying us through them as He joins us in our desolate places.
Let us peer into the manger this year, reflecting on how our Lord is truly Immanuel, God with us, in all our doings.
To Him be all the glory.
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Issues of Faith is a rotating column by five religious leaders on the North Olympic Peninsula. The Rev. Dr. Patrick Lovejoy is pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Port Angeles. He can be contacted at 360-457-4122 or pastorlovejoy@rocketmail.com.
