I have a stack of notecards on my desk. When I am moved by something I read, I will jot down a quote on one of the cards. One of my favorite notecard quotes is a saying from the Jewish Hasidic tradition that reads,
Carefully observe the way your heart draws you and choose that way with all your strength.
Hasidic Saying
The first chapter of Mark’s gospel introduces us to Jesus by telling us the typical things Jesus did in the course of his day. Many of these things, though incredible, are familiar to us. Jesus preached about the kingdom, called and formed disciples, cast out demons, and healed people of illnesses. Toward the end of the chapter, Mark tells us that in the very early morning, before dawn, Jesus withdrew to a deserted place to pray. This is so significant and yet easily overlooked. We know Jesus prayed. We know of his disciplined prayer in the desert of temptation and his fervent prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. But we don’t always pay attention to his ordinary commitment to prayer, his daily relationship with God. Mark tells us that finding time to be alone with God, was a regular, ordinary, everyday activity for Jesus.
Furthermore, we know that Jesus went to a remote location to pray. He is far enough away that his disciples have to hunt for him. The disciples seek Jesus out because so many people are asking where Jesus is. People are looking for Jesus because they have heard about him. Perhaps they are interested in Jesus’s teaching. Perhaps they are ailing and are looking for healing. After hearing from so many people in need, the disciples find Jesus and tell him that everyone is looking for him. We can’t hear the tone of voice the disciples use, but we might imagine a note of accusation in their statement. Why is Jesus out by himself alone when so many people want and need him?
Jesus’s response to his disciples is interesting. His response is not rooted in the disciples’ concerns, nor in the needs and demands of all the people asking about him. Rather, he says,
Let us go to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.
Mark 1:38
Jesus knows his purpose because he has withdrawn into the wilderness to pray. Through prayer, he has carefully observed the way his heart draws him and is committed to choose that way with all his strength. Though his disciples’ concerns are important and the needs of all the people asking after him are real and pressing, he will say no to these requests in order to say yes to God.
People pleasing is a big temptation for me. In part my desire to please is a desire to help other people, to be of service to them, to love them as I love myself. The shadow side of my people pleasing tendencies though, is fear that if I don’t please, I will not be accepted, will not be well liked, and will not feel included in the lives of people close to me.
Every day we are asked to make choices about to whom and to what we will give our energy and these choices are not always clear, and not always easy. We are asked to sort through an array of responsibilities. We have obligations to work, to family, to friends, to neighbors, to our health, and to our communities. We are surrounded by the needs and demands of others and sometimes the noise of all the demands makes it difficult for us to hear the quiet, yet, deepest yearning of our hearts, to hear the love of God calling us.
God calls each of us on a journey of love. If we follow the lead of Jesus, and spend some time each day withdrawing to pray, we will know the particular path of love God asks each one of us to walk. We will still be surrounded by demands, at times those demands might feel overwhelming, but prayer will help us to know which demands to heed and which to let go of in order to live out the call of God in our hearts. In prayer, we carefully observe the way our heart draws us and choose that way with all our strength.
