Mark 6:7-13
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
What I hear from the Marcan Jesus: You are going to get tired. So don't waste any energy.
The staff seems like pretty basic travel gear for one who travels by foot. It supports and protects. And it also forewarns that the missionaries will get tired. This weariness helps me understand the shake the dust part.
It invites a reflection. What happens when I don't shake off the dust? What happens when I take the failure on; when I arrogantly believe that if I just say or do the next right thing, then I won't have to move on? Do I stay...in a conversation, an argument, a relationship...determined by sheer stubbornness and force of will to make it all work out in my favor? What then are the future consequences? Do I forfeit the encounter lying just around the corner…full of openness and potential?
Maybe there is some sassiness in this shaking…but the lesson for me is to be a careful steward of my time and energy. Fruitfulness is what the missionary disciples are about. It is tiring. Lean on a stick, or a friend, or a stranger. And shake the dust as a way toward fruitfulness…and flourishing…and joy.
Who knows, that next encounter might be when:
Kindness and truth shall meet;
Justice and peace shall kiss,
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven. Psalm 85
Lord, don't let me thwart that meeting!
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