It was quiet celebration time. It was time to spend an evening remembering history. It was a time for a group of guys to think about centuries of history and years of shared life.

It was Passover time.

The disciples knew that they would spend the time together, they and Jesus. But they didn’t know where, not having a building or a house or a cottage. So they asked Jesus. And he laid out a plan.

But I love what they did. They asked Jesus where they would spend time with him.

Lots of people right now are thinking about spending more time on spiritual things. That happens a lot around holidays with religious connections. We talk about keeping Christ in Christmas. We talk about making sure that we leave time to think about the real meaning of Christmas.We start looking ahead at 2010 and think about the ways to be more faithful next year, more consistent, more devoted.

I wonder how often in that process of wanting to be more __ we stop to actually ask Jesus where he wants us to make the preparations? Where do you want us to meet you? What do you want us to do to get ready to spend time with you?

For the disciples he had an answer. He told them who to talk with. He told them what to say. It’s possible that he had already made all the arrangements necessary and was just waiting for the disciples to ask.

As we are preparing for the holidays and running more than usual and feeling more stress that we like, may I make a suggestion?

Sit down with a cup of coffee (or tea or chocolate). Take a deep breath. Say, “Jesus, where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat?”