The Park Bench

In our digital world, there is a constant flow of information at our fingertips 24/7. It is all designed to keep us clicking, watching, and endlessly scrolling on our devices. Sometimes I find myself watching one video on YouTube and then I go down a rabbit trail and end up watching a bunch of random videos for hours on end. For example, I go from watching a highlight video of my favorite football player to 30 videos later I’m watching a video about 10 vegan meals that I need to try. Just like that, 3 hours of my life are gone.

I realized that in a world full of distractions, we rarely take the time to go to a quiet place by ourselves, slow down, rest our minds, and simply enjoy the present moment. 

Jesus gives us an excellent model for us to follow. He would regularly escape the noise of the world and go to the eremos, which means “isolated place,” to spend time alone with God. In fact, there is a story about Jesus in Mark’s gospel that displays this same spiritual discipline. 

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, when he was healing people and driving out demons, news about him was spreading quickly throughout the region of Galilee. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left his house and went off to a solitary place to pray. Simon and his companions went off to look for him and when they found him, they exclaimed: ‘Everyone is looking for you!’ Instead of taking this opportunity to minister to the people and gain more influence, Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else- to the nearby villages- so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” (Mark 1:35-38)

Most of us in our natural, human mind would skip this discipline of prayer and say to ourselves that this is the perfect opportunity to make our name bigger and minister to the crowd. But Jesus prioritized spending time alone with God, where he could give Him his full attention. In return, Jesus was given a different direction for his ministry than where the people wanted him to go.

I struggle with my identity often because I try to be a certain way or like certain things just so I can fit in. When I skip spending time alone in prayer with God, I am left being influenced by the people around me, my social media feed, news, and the culture of the world. The problem with this is that all of these things are temporary and if any of it is taken away, then I am left searching for the real me. 

I’m not saying that we should live isolated lives, but what I am saying is that it is extremely important to get away and spend time getting to know the real you. The you that God created. I mean we talk to experts and engineers about all of our products to learn more about them, so why wouldn’t we prioritize communication with our Divine Creator to know ourselves better?

Instead of constantly being distracted, let’s sit on the park bench, clear our minds, and be still. Let’s spend some time alone to rest in the present moment where we can give God our full, undivided attention. 

The Bigger Picture: We find inner peace and confidence when we regularly prioritize quiet time on the park bench with our Heavenly Father.