Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, 
accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
They said, “Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?”
And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house.”
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.   – Mark 6:1-5

Twenty-seven years ago, I was a mess. No, I wasn’t addicted to a substance (except nicotine, but maybe that’s for later discussion.) Yes, I was in my early thirties, my husband was handsome; I had a job that paid the bills. From outward appearances, I had it all, or at least, I had a lot. From the outside, I was a pretty woman, I was healthy, and I had family and friends. From outward appearances, I had a life that was near perfect, or at least, pretty great.

Then, one day, I was at my desk at work, on the phone with my account representative, and the breakfast I had enjoyed 15 minutes before, came back up into my mouth, pretty much the way I had swallowed it. It took me by total surprise, because I felt fine, no nausea. I didn’t know it then, but I was starting a journey into severe anxiety and depression. I was at the beginning of an adventure that took me into despair and hopelessness, but notice – I call it an adventure, which is not a negative word. No, an adventure, when looking back, can be exciting and full of surprise. An adventure can be hopeful.

Severe anxiety and depression manifest in many ways, and I had physical, emotional and psychological symptoms. I was no longer able to eat solid food. I would be taking a shower and need to get out suddenly and run, soaked and barely dressed into my city street. I would tell my department director I had to leave work early because I thought I was having a heart attack. I remember taking an anniversary vacation trip with my husband, and a Rolling Stones song came on the radio. “Here it comes, here it comes, it’s just your 19^th nervous breakdown…” and he made it louder because he liked the song, and then turned it off after looking at me and apologizing. I realized that he was also having great trouble dealing with my anxiety.

Because I was generally a person of action, I looked for a solution to my illness. And after visiting doctors and therapists and finding only a little relief, I began to look for my healing in a different place – spiritual healing. And I found it in a place I had never considered seriously in my life. I found my healing in God’s Word, the Bible. I found my healer in Jesus.

In today’s Gospel, the people in the town where Jesus grew up were astonished. As far as they knew, Jesus was a carpenter, from a local family of brothers and sisters. I do find it interesting though, that they identify Jesus as Mary’s son, that they don’t mention Joseph. By then Joseph had most likely died, but Jesus was claiming to be the Son of God, and to be teaching and healing with that authority.

Mark writes that they took offense of Jesus. Even though He taught with wisdom and performed miracles with His hands, they could not go beyond their previous knowledge of Him as just an ordinary carpenter. They stopped at outward appearances. Jesus speaks of a prophet receiving no honor from his own people. At the beginning verses of John’s Gospel, John writes that Jesus “…came to that which was His own, but His own did not recognize Him.”

Before you assume that I view myself as some enlightened human who recognized Jesus right away in my life, please, that’s not the way it began for me. I was ready to let modern medicine heal me. I know that many people need therapy and medication to help them through their anxiety and depression, and in many cases, therapy and medication may be the only current solution that helps people stay healthy, physically and psychologically, but that door was closed to me. Therapy helped a little. Anti-anxiety medication did not work at all for me. So I started in a different direction, and it led me to the Bible, and the Bible led me to Jesus. As I read the Bible and it revealed the Truth, my faith grew and got stronger and my anxiety basically left, making a surprisingly quick exit. I received healing. But for me, the greater gift I received was the knowledge that Jesus is Christ, my Savior.

I believe that God can do whatever He wants to do.  If He wants to part a sea, or have a man live in the belly of a whale for three days, or create a universe, He can and will do it. But I also believe we need to acknowledge Him, to recognize Him and to recognize His Son. Twenty- seven years ago, from the outside looking in, my life looked great. The outward appearance though was not what was truth. The truth was, I was a mess. Then I went knocking on God’s door, and Jesus answered. This began my exciting adventure. I began my hopeful search in God’s direction and I will always be grateful for the healing I received. And even more, I am so thankful for the relationship with God that has developed and grown through the years.

I need to remember this history and to stay open to God and to His miracles.

This quote is attributed to Albert Einstein. “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

Not soon after my anxiety went away, my husband Jerry and I got pregnant and seven months later (33 weeks) I gave birth to my son Joseph. Tomorrow, February 1, 2018, he turns 25 years old.  Today, as I often do every year, I acknowledge this as a kind of miracle. I began the morning thinking about my son’s birthday tomorrow and miracles, and after reading Mark’s Gospel I can only feel gratitude.

I choose the second part of Einstein’s observation – I choose to live my life today believing everything is a miracle.

Prayer of today:

Dear Father,

I praise you. You are all powerful. You are all wonderful. Thank You for finding me when I searched and bringing me to the feet of Your Son Jesus. Please, may Your Holy Spirit always be close and always guiding me, reminding me of Your past Blessings and Your constant Love. I pray to be always open to You and to recognize Your Miracles.

In Your Son Jesus’ Holy Name I pray,

Amen