On the Way

The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. John 4:49-53

Recently, I got to thinking about what it meant to be on a journey. When traveling in New Mexico, Mark and I experienced several long drives with people we don't often get to share the road with. When people travel together, they can't help but learn a great deal about each other. On Saturday, we drove to and from Farmington (from Albuquerque) with Bishop Smith, telling stories and laughing at jokes and our own humanity. We filled the hours with observation and silence to, commenting on the gorgeous scenery as we went. We learned new things from each other. On Sunday we drove back and forth to Santa Fe with Andrea and John and we learned a good deal more about their lives as we talked and shared on the journey. Laughter and comfortable silence filled out time and we found ourselves closer in heart and mind by journey's end.


Our journeys take us to places, but the insight and healing happen along the road. The goal is not a place on the map but the presence of God that heals and transforms us as we step out together in faith. Jesus knew that the first act for the father of the sick boy was his willingness to start the journey home. His steps in faith, his journey became the presence of the living God in his life, healing and transforming his heart and his child. And his simple act of faith transformed a whole family a whole community.

Today, whatever healing and transformation is needed, I want to step out in faith trusting that God will provide the needs of the journey and the healing in the midst of it. I pray for strength to not give up, but to take the journey, one step at a time, rejoicing in the growth and changes along the way. May God grant us all the strength to trust and believe, so that our journeys might bring about the healing of our world.