MK often records Jesus engaging in a situation then withdrawing to a quieter scenario. This passage begins with the withdrawal that ends the previous one. After the healings of first, Peter's mother-in- law, then among the crowd that followed, Jesus withdraws again from all this hustle & bustle. What can we say about this except that while we need to be thoroughly involved in our given agenda, we also need time apart, in small-scale company, or by ourselves. Workaholism isn't one of the gifts of the Spirit! How's the work-load, what are the work practices of 'the workers' in our congregation? Including ourself?

A question that keeps recurring in church circles is 'How does healing work?' Some explanations leave me craving a holiness I know I don't have. Others make me tear out the little hair I have left! At this stage of my journey, the closest I can get to how it 'works' is to believe that healing takes place when God's love is brought to bear by any means & takes the form of healing energy. It might be the touch of a hand (as here), well targeted medicine or surgery, or a host of other ways. I believe God's energy brought to bear with love & integrity still heals. There is no set formula; it is always an act of grace. No-one need feel bad or guilty when someone we pray for dies. We haven't failed if we've done what we could do. It takes a lot of love, a lot of integrity, a lot of effort, a lot of persistence, & a lot of grace.

My observation of those who make capital out of the healing ministry is that they lack some, or even all of these qualities. For the same reason, health care systems based solely on the profit motive will bring us undone as often as they help our healing. Stitching us up where God raises us up. True healing isn't a commodity, any more than Jesus allows himself to become a commodity when he opts out of what people are chasing him for in 36-38. A person on whose behalf God gives us the grace to apply the healing energy of love in any form may still die, but they will die in a state of grace because real healing has taken place. Besides, we all need to come to terms with our mortality somewhere along the way.

Jesus now makes himself widely available in a wide sweep, reaching into a lot of corners, teaching & 'casting out demons' - however we understand that term today. God's Good News is never mere theory. There always has to be some expectation that 'something will happen'! Else, where is the God News? The many kinds of 'demons' people face today are every bit as destructive as the kind 1st C people believed in & fell victim to. How can we preach & minister, & our congregation operate in such healing ways as will encourage those 'bound' today to face their demons, name them, & accept the Good News that by grace Jesus can 'cast them out' like the ones of old.