Reflection by Rev. Leonard N. Peterson
“God is in the details.” That’s a thought attributed to the minimalist German architect Miles van der Rohe. He was referring to the attributes of his many creations. While it might at first seem to be too great a stretch to connect architecture with Holy Scripture, there is much about God’s words and actions in the Bible that feature details we should notice. They can be profitable for our prayer and reflection. Heretofore hidden meanings emerge. The divine presence lies just below the surface. Not immediately obvious.
Case in point: this weekend’s beautiful passage about the encounter of Jesus with a deaf mute. Note first how the crowd already knew where to go and whom to see if they wanted a person to be helped. Jesus. His reputation preceded Him. This “herd,” if you will, was attracted to the possibility of a miracle in their midst. On the surface, they seemed not to care much for the sick man’s feelings.
It gives me pause to think that sometimes that we have just wanted to “use” Jesus’ power and might for our own needs to be met. We forget that He is a Person, not a machine. A divine person no less, who took on our human nature to save us from hell. Not a dispenser of wish fulfillment.
We note the detail that Jesus leads the deaf man away from the crowd. Away from the raucous voices with mixed up ideas about God. Or the cheering cries of people that just want to make noise and enjoy mayhem. The Lord wants the man to have some well-deserved privacy. To look the Lord in the face and express with hand gestures his longing to be normal, even if he cannot yet voice it.
In a world filled with what are called “social media,” users are allotted an outlet to express themselves, however crude or misinformed they may be about a given issue. They can do it anonymously with their privacy intact. But they have no qualms invading ours.
Do we ever go so far as to prohibit God from entering our so-called “private space?” That place where we decide what to do no matter what the Commandments and the Beatitudes? That’s a detail in our story.
After touching the man’s ears and tongue, we note that Jesus “looked up to heaven” and “groaned.” In His prayer to the Father, Jesus took on the needy man’s pain and deprivation. Just as He takes on our own troubles every time, we request His help. A major detail in our lives: “We never walk alone.”
Lastly, there’s that detail wherein Jesus tells the crowd to keep quiet about what He did. St. Mark wants his readers to wait until the Passion and Resurrection story to learn Jesus’ full identity. Sometimes we must wait for God to answer our prayers. We must admit that we can either be deaf to His responses or mute in our thanks.
Let me quote the great Christian apologist C.S. Lewis for my closing thought today: “On the whole, God’s love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for Him.”
God love you and give you His peace.