Mark 5:24-34

My life has officially returned to a pre-pandemic pace. One of the things I was determined to take with me from the pandemic, especially in the early months, was a different rhythm than I was accustomed to. So, when everything stopped in March of 2020, I realized I wanted more time to pay attention to the things around me. And now, almost three years later, life has picked back up, and I am as busy as ever. Not just with giving kids rides and putting in more time at work but also with community obligations, administrative tasks, and household upkeep. In my haste, I miss things—other people, opportunities, beauty—that I genuinely want to pay attention to.

While we are particularly skilled in the ways of hurry, hurry is not a modern invention. In this passage, we find Jesus in a hurry. He is on his way to heal a man’s daughter who is about to die. He does not have time to stop and talk with the woman who touched his robe. He is a busy man with many healing appointments, and this one isn’t on his schedule. But he stops anyway. Even though he could have let her be healed and kept moving, he stopped and listened to her. Jesus shows us what it means to pay attention to ourselves (Jesus felt something change within himself) and others. It is paying attention that allows us to be moved with compassion.

May we move with intention, allowing us to pay attention and be moved to compassion.

PRAYER: God, who patiently waits on me, help me to slow down. Open my eyes to those things that require my attention and help me to be driven by a compassion that knows no bounds. Amen.

PROMPT: What have you been rushing and where could you benefit from slowing down and paying attention?