Associate Rector of St. John’s Church and Chaplain to the Parish Day School.
And what longs to be born in our world and from our hearts is the same thing that was coming to birth in Mark’s world and in the hearts of those early Christians: the Kingdom of God.
When we pray for open eyes, open minds, and open hearts, it just about guarantees that we, as disciples, will be called to take some risks. And I think that healthy stewardship requires us to take some risks.
What is at stake is Jesus’ very mission; not just the right or wrong answer by his disciples.
It seems that what John’s Jesus is telling us is that flesh alone, that is, matter alone, stuff alone…is not the way into relationship and unitive living with Jesus.
In multiplying food and creating this experience of enough, this experience of abundance, Jesus is showing the nature of the kingdom of God.
They also have this in common: that the healing power experienced by Jairus and his daughter and by the bleeding woman is, in both stories, activated by their faith.
This mystery, I believe, offers us a deep understanding of Christ, of the world, and of our relationship to both.
How can we give our hearts to something we don’t know through our own experience?
Heart space reminds us that we cannot solve problems from the same level of consciousness from which they were created.
How able are we to see across the two sides of the veil?