Mark 9:23

“Why say ‘possibly’?” Jesus replied.“Everything is possible for one who has faith.”


in the face of possibilities
do the faith thing
trust your choice
proceed apace

be not dismayed
when faith fails
given the number of choices
and those that can be made

faith is but a facet
a gateway to decision
wherein action and reaction
have a loosened connection

like hope in an unseen way
to arrive at a desired destination
faith keeps possibilities in play
even after they have passed


More clearly we might hear, “Jesus responded, ‘Regarding your question, “If, I can do anything?”, all things are possible for the one who trusts.”

And we are thrown back into the mystery of the locus of belief, faith, or trust (choose the term you are least comfortable with to test your assumptions).

Where is the presumption of action?

On Jesus? If so, why was he limited in healing in his hometown.

On the Parent? If so, how are they different from Jairus. How are they similar to the friends bringing a helpless man on a mat and lowering him through a roof?

On the Disciples? If so, is it as simple as they weren’t authorized to continue healing outside Jesus’ supervision? Only when they have enough hours in will they be authorized to set up their own practice?

On the Crowd? If so, can one person’s lack of trust disable everyone else’s desire? What percentage of doubters can be bargained for and still have an effective healing?

On the Reader? If so, have you read enough yet to engage your partnership with Jesus or is this still a story happening only to others? Could The Neverending Story have been written without alternating scenes of Bastian, the reader of the Neverending Story, and Bastian, the hero in the Story itself? At what point does a story step outside its bounds, break its fourth wall, suspend our disbelief, to become our story? Another way of asking this is, “What Fairy Tale is your story?”

The Neverending Story and Princess Bride are stories of wishes that Mark would have named πιστεύντι (faith/belief/trust). What do you wish with more than all your heart? Here lies a possibility seed.