June 24, Ordinary 12B (Mark 4:35-41)

Mark reports no deliberation before Jesus says, “Let us go across to the other side.” No doubt the disciples’ moral and emotional senses receive an astonishing jolt. This is the first time the Jesus movement ventures toward gentile land. The other side of the sea represents hostile territory, people presumed undeserving of what a messianic project intends. I imagine a question mark on the disciples’ faces as Jesus directs them to set sail for this community of others. Jesus invites them to detach from the familiar shores of Capernaum toward the strange and foreign shores of the Gerasenes.

“Let’s not be afraid to receive each day’s surprise,” writes Henri Nouwen, “whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy. It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity.”

Sometimes Jesus’ call has an intrusive quality. We have to live in a posture of flexibility and adaptability, because we don’t know when God will expand our life to see other shores. Many people anchor their lives on familiar shores by committing too much of their energy to cautious preparation—when God may want to move instantaneously. Too often people of conscience and good will deliberate themselves into stagnation. We spend our energy thinking about divine directives and invitations instead of pursuing them. It can be dangerous to spiritualize inaction. We can clutter our hearts with thoughts that weigh down our feet and cuff our hands.