In 2009 Merriam-Webster admitted the word ‘staycation’ into its dictionary.

This word appeared as a result of the 2007 financial meltdown when more and more people began curbing their spending and cutting out non-essentials. Staycations (a neologism for a vacation around the home) have become essential for many families, not simply by choice, but by no choice. Like it or not, we are learning to do without, learning to do more with less.

When we meet Jesus in Mark 1 this Sunday we see that he is learning much the same thing. After healing Peter’s mother-in-law, the whole town turns out to see Him and before He knows it He is working into the night then waking before dawn – and never able to get all the work done. Like us, it is a role He seems forced into. Whether or not He actually enjoys this is inconsequential, He seems simply to be making the best of it – doing what He needs to do.

What has captivated Jesus’ attention is not the litany of things He is missing (sleep, solitude, etc.) but what He has: the mission of the Father. Jesus does not complain or step back, but seems invigorated and enlivened by God’s colossal work of universal reconciliation. It seems not unlike what my wife went through giving birth to our daughter – as I witnessed her tortuous efforts that did not end in fatigue but excitement and joy. The birthing process, as dreaded and painful as it is, goes seemingly unremembered when that little baby is handed to mom for the very first time.

As you and I learn to live without and make due with less, perhaps a similar, mission-driven focus is appropriate. As tempted as we are to fret over what used to be or what could be, do we really have time for that when faced with what is: a place in time to be the people we’re called to be – to do the things that only we can do?

Life is short, and living without calls us to ponder what we’re living with. Sure it may not be a new car or a coconut island, but it is something far better: the call of God that sends us forth in hope and love to aid in the reconciliation of all things to Him.

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Reading

The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

The Witness of Preaching – Thomas Long

The Art of the Start – Guy Kawasaki