Not a Vacation

"He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. " - Mark 6:7-8

First off, thanks to our guest blogger for filling in during my absence. Her insight and wisdom were wonderful, and I hope you enjoyed her posts as much as I did.

As noted in prior posts, my family and I spent the last week vacationing. Unfortunately, my wife was out of action with a pretty bad cold, and so I did the majority of the planning and packing - something I hadn't really done before, and something I hope to never have to do by myself in the future!

But all this packing gave me a sense as to how much it takes to keep our family of 5 going for a week. And after reading the first two verses from this week's Gospel, I feel a bit like I overpacked. Jesus sends his disciples out, two by two, with nothing but a walking stick. Nothing to eat, no cash to buy something to eat, no portable DVD players, no fishing rods. But he assures them that they'll be fine.

If I were a disciple, I'd be quite nervous. Not only is this the first time I'd be going at it alone, I won't have any of the comforts of home along. But I think that was part of Jesus's reasoning behind sending them out this way - that it'd be easier for them to fully commit, because they have less holding them back, less distraction, and fewer reminders of what they're leaving behind.

Thankfully, they all came back - stronger, committed, and full of the Holy Spirit - and because of that, our faith carries on to this day.