Intractable

"My little daughter is dying," Mark 5:23.

Words nobody wants to have to say. Any parent knows the despair brought on by a child with an intractable disease. Indeed, most any adult feels it concerning distressed children. So we get it how a dad, on his knees, begs Jesus over and again to heal her. Jesus heals her, of course, and everybody's stunned. (Thank you, Lord!) But what of the parents whose children don't get well? Who first say to their child: Hello, beloved, welcome to our family! Who must then turn around and say: Goodby, dearest one, we loved you so. (We don't get it.) So, we plead with Jesus in desperate hope of an age to come when every ill is healed forever.

We meet with a brother or sister today even in our distress, to receive and share consolation in hope. And, weeping together, we sacrifice to God the words of our confession, Jesus is Lord.