Flying Pigs

And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region. Matthew 8:32-34

We had a friend when we lived in Denver who frequently used the phrase, "when pigs fly", to talk about an impossible situation with no resolution in sight. It was just one of many colorful phrased he used, some of which cannot be repeated in polite company. Pigs are not designed to fly, although they can jump and move pretty fast when needs be. They are also some of the smartest in the animal kingdom although most people write them off as smelly and dirty. Pigs are impossibly misunderstood and pork was a forbidden meat among faithful Jews. And yet, we can indeed find ourselves in impossible situations without a resolution in sight, where the demons and mental illness, the physical and emotional breakdowns are too hard to bear. Situations that demand miracles.

Jesus finds a man who has been kept in chains and cast out of his community for his own safety and theirs. Everyone is afraid and has given up on the man. Jesus has compassion on him and sets him free but in doing so, frightens the community so much that they ask him to leave. The impossible has come to fruition and they are ill equipped to deal with it. They would rather return to the illness because it was familiar than to learn new ways to live in community.

Today, I pray that God can continue to make miracles happen in the lives of this community and that we would be able to stretch and grow in order to embrace those miracles. I ask God to give us all the strength to welcome the miracles among us and to make room for the power of God in our lives.