Molly was my eldest sister – much older than me.  In 1940 she married Roy, who was serving in the RAF. Two years later she got a telegram.  On the night of June 22, 1942, he took part in a bombing raid on Emden, a seaport in north-west Germany. 227 planes took part.  Roy’s plane was seen to ditch in the sea on the return home.   Much later my other sister told me that Molly struggled to eat for two weeks, believing that he may be sheltering somewhere awaiting rescue.  
But it never happened.

How have you felt when you’ve got some really bad news?   Especially when it’s completely out of the blue.   You were probably stunned, perhaps wondering “Is it true?  Is there a mistake?”   As the Gospel reading begins Jesus had just received word that John the Baptist was dead. Beheaded on the orders of Herod – at the request of his wife. John had baptized Jesus. They were both servants of God, sent to preach the Good News.  And now he was gone. Murdered.

Jesus’ reaction is the same that many of us might have when we hear such news: we want to be alone. We need some time alone to process it. To weep. To pray. To remember.
And so, Jesus withdrew in a boat, to a desert place apart. This shows us the human side of Jesus.   We’ve all been there. 

But Jesus was not left alone.  A crowd followed him and we read that he healed some who were sick and then uses five loaves and two fishes to feed the crowd, 

It’s remarkable that despite the trauma of hearing of John the Baptist’s murder, the time for being alone had to be postponed until after he had served the crowd.  But, in v23 we read “And after he had sent the multitudes away, he went up to the mountain to pray; and when evening had come, he was there alone”
Alone – but praying.  Prayer for Jesus was a close encounter with God.  And I find myself reflecting on what that was like.   Prayer for us can be a bit formulaic – words may be said with little sense that God is listening.    Why do you think the disciples said to him “Teach us to pray”?   They had probably prayed since their earliest years.  But they knew that for Jesus prayer was a living conversation, a practice which gave him courage and was the source of all his compassion and strength. 

Jesus had wanted time alone.  But it did not last long.  He sent the disciples across the sea of Galilee, but their boat was distressed by the waves – so he left his prayers to rescue them.  He was not given time to wallow in his grief. And my sister, after her weeks of grief, chose to leave her job as a shop assistant and join the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force.

Whenever we experience loss may our prayers and awareness of God give us strength to carry on – and believe that He still has a purpose for us, and to find it.