Mark 5-6: Healed and Fed

The book of Mark is pretty dense. I mean, Mark covers a lot of territory really fast. We don't read a lot of what Jesus SAYS, but he sure DOES a lot. In this section, Jesus frees a guy from being filled with demons, he raises a little girl from the dead, he heals a woman with a chronic condition just because she touches his coat, and he feeds five thousand hungry people who followed him to a mountainside.

And as I drove to school yesterday morning, I started thinking about what happened to those people after Jesus healed them, especially the demoniac (Pastor Mike likes to use that word) who wanted to travel with Jesus and his disciples. Jesus told him to go home to his family and tell them what had happened, which he did. And everyone was amazed. But eventually he would have told his whole family, and eventually they would get tired of his story, and get used to him acting normal and he might even forget what it was like to live in the tombs and to cut himself with rocks.

What was he like in a few years, after Jesus died, after he had a wife and family? And what about the little girl who was raised from the dead? Or the woman? How about the five thousand people who wouldn't have had lunch if Jesus hadn't turned a few snacks into a feast? Did life sweep them up, and did they start getting stressed about ordinary things so that they forgot the reality of Jesus and what he did for them?

I've been pretty anxious lately. Lots of things to finish in a very short amount of time, not enough time to do it, and the reason I'm rushed is because I was too scared to get started.

Am I forgetting the reality of Jesus? Am I forgetting what he does for me?

I want to remember. I want to rejoice in everything, big and small, that God is has done and is doing in my life. And so, as I drove to school, I began to thank God for the opportunity to go to New York, to teach writing at SDSU, to get to encourage these students, to continue my own studies. And I thanked God for Duane, who has gone from UPS driver to pastor. I see God at work in his life everyday, and when I get anxious, he prays for me. And I thanked God for my children. I really love them--they are such a blessing. And I thanked God for the opportunity to be involved in Newbreak's SOM.

You get the idea.