Human life is fleeting.
All of human kind is prone to wasting “precious time” on small, petty concerns.
We sweat the small stuff…the trivial.
In the great scheme of things, just how important is this?
Heck, some of us – sweat – “all stuff.”
We do not put everyday concerns into their proper perspective.
Things get blown out of all proportion.
Nothing ever gets put on the back burner.
We drive ourselves to an early grave.
For some people everything is intense. Everything is an emergency. Everything must be remedied, right now, this instant. Everything is important.
We do not spend a great deal of time thinking about “WHAT” is or “WHAT IS NOT” really important.
For too many of us, there are daily preoccupations…that spill over into the next day and into the day after that…
Sometimes you need to sit back and breathe – take a breath…
Continuous and relentless stress is good for no one…SAID EVERYONE, and yet do WE listen?
You do not have to keep up with your “TO-DO LIST” … some things can actually wait…till tomorrow or the day after that…
Give yourself a break.
Not everything is immediate.
Sometimes you have to take a step back from the daily grind to see it clearly.
Why is it that the URGENT takes over the IMPORTANT? Are urgent and important the same thing?
Don’t worry, life will no doubt – continue in its intensity tomorrow…or, in the days that will surely come.
The season of Lent starts out ever single year by reminding us – that we are but dust…and one day, to dust we will return.
The season of Lent attempts to make or to put things into their proper perspective.
Many have pointed out that Mark’s account of Jesus’ time in the wilderness is SO SPARSE, that it is FRUSTRAIGHTING.
We have to use our imaginations to fill in the blanks…
No food…
No shelter…
No water…
Wild beasts…
Foxes?
Hyenas?
Jackals?
Snakes?
Scorpions?
Lions?
Wild desert camels?

And then, Mark tells us that the angels were present, serving him. Whatever that is – supposed to mean?

Again, we are left to our own imaginations…

As a matter of fact – all that we get to describe that “pivotal wilderness experience” is two paltry sentences…

In the wilderness we are confronted not only with the elements, (hot and cold) but with our own true selves.
In the wilderness, death becomes very real. Fear is alive and well. Shame, anger, grief, selfishness, regret, doubt, sin will surely all raise their ugly heads…
It is a time of testing, a time of temptation…and to make sure we understand that, Mark tells us that Satan was there, present. The tester, the tempter, the evil one…
And Jesus himself was tempted. But again, Mark does not tell us WHAT those temptations were. Mark was not there. He was not present.
So, Mark has this immediacy about him. Things move quickly. There is no time to linger or to hang around. Life moves at a fast pace…and unfortunately Jesus does not have much time.
Jesus will attempt to teach us of the need to discern what is important and what is not…
So, Mark the author – moves us quickly along. He has to get to the teachings, and the healings and the miracles…
But he also knows that the most important part of the “Jesus story” is the ending. It is all about his last week of life.
Most people will be able to relate to that…
Many people will have witnessed the atrocities of the Romans many, many times over. Crosses were prevalent crossroad sites.
Human life is fleeting. We have to learn the lesson. Amen.