April 12                                                                 Mark 10:46-52

EARLY in his public ministry, at the very beginning, the Lord Jesus was confronted by a chronically ill man who said,  "if you want to you can make me well".  Jesus said, "Of course I want to, how can you doubt that?"  He healed the man, a leper, but there is some indication the man was not really healed not done at all with his leprosy, he continued to keep and use and manipulate his disease, mostly as a means  to bring himself attention. 

Now at the end, the Lord is approached by a chronically ill man who will not be ignored or dismissed; he "shouts" after Jesus.  Jesus stops, but this time his response is very different:  "What do you want me to do for you?"  he quietly asks. 

He has learned healing and service and help are not about him and his power, his concern, his caring, they are about the one in need---"What are YOU looking for?" Attention?  Notoriety?  An excuse?  No need to overly psychologize this.  What Jesus says to me is that God has infinite patience for us to participate and even us to decide what truly is good for our well-being.  I wonder if what we confuse as  God's silence sometimes is God in fact listening before speaking. What a novel idea.   

John Condon