We all know
of times when we want to escape. Perhaps it is to avoid meeting someone.
Perhaps it is to avoid someone we have already met. Maybe we need to escape
from the reality in which we find ourselves. We feel out of control. We feel
helpless. We see little light in the darkness ahead. We just need to get away!
Middle Earth
has done that for me on more than one occasion. A book I am writing, which may
get finished someday, offers a place where it seems heaven itself has come to
dwell. Peace and honesty, acceptance and grace are the rules of engagement. It
is a great place to which one may escape.
These places,
however, are not real. A big problem with escapism is it provides nothing real. You have
to come back and nothing has changed while you have been gone. You are just as
frustrated and still at a loss about what to do with life and all it throws at
you.
Jesus
escaped, but the difference for him was it was not escapism. It was the
opportunity for protected communion. A wide gulf exists between escapism and
protected communion. All too often we seek the former when what we need is the latter.
Though
mentioned elsewhere in the Gospels, Luke especially emphasizes the times Jesus
escaped. (Luke 5:16, 6:12, 9:18, 28, 11:1, 22:41-46) Jesus left the reality of
disciples, crowds, hungry people, hurting people, and criticizing people not
because he couldn’t face the people, but because he needed the protected
communion with his heavenly Father. He needed to pray.
Jesus was
human, feeling the same wearing on his mind, body, and emotions we all feel. He
grew tired enough to fall asleep in a small boat and almost miss a severe
storm. (Matthew 8:23-27) He grew angry
enough to chastise his disciples in front of a crowd (Matthew 19:13-15) and
synagogue leaders in front of their religious community. (Mark 3:1-6) He was
cautious enough to spend a full night in prayer before choosing his twelve
closest followers. (Luke 6:12)
Jesus knew
his limitations and he knew he had to pray. Such times of prayer could tolerate
no interruptions or distractions. His times away from disciples and crowds were
times of decision, times of building resolve, and times of strengthening
determination to follow through on an accepted mission.
I cannot
escape to Middle Earth or the Undying Lands in the Uttermost West. The Shire
may seem idyllic, but the Old Forest is always waiting with orcs aplenty. No
matter high close to heaven the highest mountain may take me, down below the
valley is waiting for me to return. That is why prayer is so important.
God calls us
to pray so we might have that most important of all gifts, communion with him.
Jeremiah knew the meaning of honest prayer. He took his worst to the God he
served (Jeremiah 20), and he found God big enough to take it and still promise
his presence and his love. When we like Jeremiah only have anger and frustration
to fill our prayers, God still answers, “You will call upon me and come and
pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you
seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:12-13, NIV) In finding God with an
honest and seeking heart, we will find what we need just as Jesus did.
Escaping to
God is not a bad thing. We just have to remember he doesn’t let us stay in
isolation. He comforts us. He heals us. He rejuvenates us. He fills us with his
wisdom. He restores our soul. Then he sends us back into the world, back down
into the valley, and reminds us as he sends us to take up our cross and follow
him.
