Reflection for August 4, 2014

"And immediately they left their nets and followed him."(Mark 1:18)

We know that we live in a fast paced world.  We can get immediate answers to questions thanks to the internet.  Immediately is such an interesting adverb.  Behind it you get a sense of speed and even perhaps lack of thought.  It is a very impulsive kind of word.

I've tried to think of things that get an immediate response from me.  The first thing that comes to mind is hearing a request from my wife or my children.  Certainly a crash or a scream in the house would get me moving.

Outside of those moments I'm hard pressed to think of instances where I have reacted immediately.  I'm much more of slow and steady kind of guy.  I can wait and often do.  Even living in a fast paced high tech world, I manage somehow to maintain my pace.

When I think of that word in the context of Mark's Gospel, I'm actually astounded.  Hard to picture just dropping everything and immediately following Jesus.  Perhaps they were looking for a reason to leave.  Maybe there was something in the way Jesus called them that made them not think it out or at least pack up the nets and let the boss know where they were going.

The whole thing feels rushed to me, and yet so right.  Could I do that? Would I do that?  Perhaps if something was so clear to me I just might.

Blessings,
Ed