and he wondered at the want of faith shown by the people. Jesus went around the villages, one after another, teaching.
over-focusing on belief
without considering its limits
is like glancing at Medusawe freeze in time and space
thick headed and stone hearted
only dynamite induced change availableby story-telling transference
all who gaze on us melt
worn out in their CPR attemptsstatues and puddles
artifacts of religious history
litter our perceptual fieldnot doubting a door’s lockedness
saps curiosity and sits us down
until jogged to remember to playa suspension of disbelief
opens multiple paths of trust
beyond an exclusionary faith
As we know, versification takes away some connections of a story. Do try reading a version of Mark that does not have verses notated.
Most modern commentators split this verse so the first half concludes a discrete section of Mark’s story.
As Mann290 indicates, “Here Jesus appears to take faith in God as a natural attitude and is pained by its absence.” This leads to another return to creation and the “natural” relationship between G*D and Image of G*D. For all that has wedged itself between, we grieve and commit to emptying it from power or control in our lives. Repentance that changes hearts and lives functions through a removal of blockages
The second half begins a more intense teaching/training of the disciples in participating in a larger mission through a simplification of their way of living.
The urgency of mission is pushed ahead through a paring away that a wilderness retreat brings. The clearer our heads the further we can see into the vastness of the sky and have a place to stand to better sort out real from false choices.
Verse 6a gives an ouch that leads to 6b and a renewed joining of Jesus with his chosen family. This verse connects them, but we are still don’t know the mind of the Versifier and how they saw this transition spot flow from a lack of trust to intensified teaching about trust.