Welcomed

When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee (for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet's own country). When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival; for they too had gone to the festival.

Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe." The official said to him, "Sir, come down before my little boy dies." Jesus said to him, "Go; your son will live." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, "Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him." The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he himself believed, along with his whole household. Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee. John 4:43-54 

I haven't written my blog for several days since we have been on the road. We headed to Cape May Point in a hurry, understanding that my mother is at the end of life. At 92, she has lived a good and faithful life. She has been a wonderful mother, grandmother, wife, friend and neighbor. Her community has counted on her for years. We have counted on her for all our lives. We arrived, late at night, to the place which has always been home. We were greeted by snow, and the constancy of the lighthouse which never ends its vigil.

Jesus has had challenges since the folks in Nazareth, his home, had denied his gifts. An official of the court sought him out because his son was dying. People who knew him well might have doubted, but the man was in real need. And Jesus sent him home to a healed child. God invited us today to revisit our places of doubt and to revise their capacity. We are invited by God to seek healing always, in this season of introspection and renewal.

Today I ask God for a deeper faith as we face these coming days. May we always expect, as my mother does still, a wondrous outcome at the hands of God. May we live with the hope we have been given.