When life presses in

My youngest daughter works for a magazine as an art director. Her job is demanding, especially during certain parts of the month before publication.

During a particularly long week, I walked with her and she was looking forward to a weekend of doing nothing.

I think we all look forward to those times when we can just catch our breath, relax, and reconnect with family and friends, or just ourselves. It also is a time when we, in our Christian walk, can reconnect with Jesus.

Over and over in the Gospels, the scriptures talk about crowds pressing around Jesus as he taught, healed and traveled.

For most of us, life kind of engulfs us. We are in the middle of the chaos, so reading and knowing that Jesus kept sharing His love of people in the midst of the noise is a reassurance for me.

Jesus meets us amid our hectic lives when we can spend time in quiet prayer.

Of course, the “ideal” time, more for us than Him, would be in church after folks have gone and one can spend quiet time just sitting in a pew, or anywhere you are not surrounded by the busyness of the day.

I love those quiet times of “peaceful communion”.

But, those are not the only times we can experience a connection with Jesus.

When work fills our days, when others’ needs hit us from all directions, when our days are so full that we feel we could be crushed by them, Jesus reminds us that He is there, too.

He is there in the crush. He is there in the crowd. He is there in our need.

Jesus is our ever-present Father. No matter where we are during the day, no matter the busyness of our lives, we can all take a deep breath and know that He is with us.

We can go on with His business of love and caring, even when life presses in on us.