Let me see again

I've been slowly making my way through the gospel of Mark these last few weeks and have been pretty faithful to reading a few verses a day and reflecting on them. Like many new or renewed loves, though, my response to these verse has changed.

I started this process right after I came off a retreat and was renewed and reinvigorated (as often happens when I'm on retreat). The first chapter of Mark was a revelation even though I'd read it many times before. I felt I was there at Jesus' baptism, I was intrigued and inspired by his going into the wilderness. Over time, though, the stories and verses have lost their punch. "Oh, that's the story of Jesus stilling a storm," I think to myself. "Another feeding of masses of people?" I ask. I stick with it, though, and I think this is important.

So many people come to Urban Village and are excited about this new or renewed faith, but then the luster wears off and they go to try something else that gets their spiritual juices flowing. They don't know quite what to do with spiritual boredom. And that's when I recognize how important perseverance (which is often mentioned by Paul) is.

I was reading the story of the healing of Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52) yesterday, a man who was blind. Jesus asks him what he wants and Bartimaeus says, "My teacher, let me see again." It's that last word that caught me. He once was able to see. And he wants to see again. That's a good prayer: Let me see again, Lord. Stir up excitement and joy that has been there in the past and I trust will be there in the future. In the meantime, give me the perseverance to keep asking.