Again Beside the Sea

Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

“No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.” Mark 2:13-22 

I am always drawn back to the sea, whether in real life or in my dreams. The light and the sounds are different by the ocean. I am at home by the ocean. The water has baptized and renewed me over and over. The gifts of the sea - the fish, shellfish and all sorts of magnificent life -bless me again and again. Most of all, the realtionships fomed there are part of the core my being. 

Jesus returned to the sea, over and over again. From there he found his best friends, who would walk with him throughout his short life. He would defend them, despite the criticism of the high and mighty. He knew them to be blessings of God in the imperfections and their simplicities. They were authentic, honest friends. We are invited today to reflect on those who have formed and blessed us. May we rejoice in their gifts and be grateful for all the lives that have blessed us.

Today, I simply ask God to help me be grateful for those who love me and have held me through thick and thin. May we be grateful for the blessings our friends and family give us. And may we truly be blessings to others.