Here’s one of my favorite jokes that — near as I can tell — isn’t on this site yet:
A man of faith finds his boat capsized and he’s washed ashore a desert island. A day later, a fishing boat arrives and offers to rescue him. “No no,” says the man, “I have faith in God! I am not afraid, for He shall rescue me.” The captain of the fishing boat shrugs and leaves. A couple of days after that, a cruise ship sees the man from afar and sends a life raft after him. Again the man refuses: “No, no! I have faith in God! I am not afraid, for He shall rescue me.” The life raft returns and the luxury liner leaves. A week later, a helicopter lands on the island and a millionaire explorer comes out, explaining that she saw the shipwrecked victim. The man of faith, nearing death, shakes his head weakly. “No, no! I have faith in God. I’m not afraid, for He shall rescue me.” The millionaire tries to convince him but cannot, so she leaves. A day later, the man dies. In Heaven, the man is fairly upset and yells at God: “I had faith in you! Why didn’t you rescue me?!” God replies, “Well, I sent a boat, I sent a ship, I sent a helicopter . . . what more did you want?”
Even if we’re secure in our faith, I think that some of us have a way of viewing how God will help us. We might be praying for a miracle, but I suspect that we have visions of how that miracle will play out. This can be dangerous, in that our eyes can be closed to the way that God wants to help us.
The nature of miracles — and closed eyes — factors into today’s readings. The first reading describes what happens at the end of the Great Flood . . . and, in particular, what Noah does to make sure the world was safe again. He releases a couple of birds (a raven and dove, respectively) and gauges his actions and reactions based on what they do. After that, some indeterminate time later, Noah emerged and built an altar to God.
I’m sure I knew all that, but in the back of my mind I probably had a nagging “Sunday School” version of the Flood: God talks to Noah, Noah makes an ark, there’s a Flood, the ark lands, and animals pour out. But that ignores a lot of both work on Noah’s part (cleaning and feeding animals, making an altar), and work on God’s part (the olive branch in the dove’s bill, the preparing of the Earth anew). In a children’s board book, this is all glossed over in a page or two, but that’s a lot of work!
Similarly, I think the “popular” vision of Jesus has Him appear as some kind of magician: “Pow . . . You’re healed! Bam . . . You can see!” And, sure, He could do that (He’s God, after all), and some of His miracles were instantaneous or “flashy.” But generally He prefers to work through the world, through seemingly mundane objects and actions. So, in the Gospel selection from Mark, he puts spittle on the blind man’s eyes, which lets him see a bit; Christ then lays hands on the man’s eyes a second time, and then he can fully see.
The joke I opened with came to mind today because it ties so well into how God gets things done. If Noah were looking for a neon sign from God saying, “LEAVE THE ARK NOW,” he never would’ve left the ark. Noah had to accept that the olive branch was a good sign, and trust his own (God-given) judgment that it was an okay time to leave the ark.
Similarly, imagine if a blind man of faith didn’t understand Jesus’ divinity, and was expecting a less “earthy” miracle? “Why are you smearing spit on my eyes?! Get away; I’m trusting in God to heal me!!”
For our own needs, prayer and faith are excellent tools that God can use to work with us to bring about His plan. Prayer and faith are both tools of observation; in order to pray, you must have something pray for, and that means keeping your eyes open, to see what needs doing. Faith also requires observation, in that it’s only through perception that we can tell if our prayers are in the process of being answered!
For the needs of others, God often uses our prayers and faith as a catalyst to have us serve as His instrument in bringing about those miracles. Countless saints felt called to pray for the needy, the sick, the homeless, the uneducated, the poor . . . and those prayers turned them (working with God) to serve the needy, sick, homeless, uneducated, and poor.
If you’re praying for others, it’s a great and beautiful thing to do . . . but keep an ear on your heart for the possibility that you are being called to serve further. In the joke, God sent a boat, a cruise ship, and a helicopter. For the needs that you perceive, God may well have sent you.
Today’s readings: Gn 8:6-13,20-22; Ps 116:12-15,18-19; Mk 8:22-26
