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Praying about Jesus’s miracles: Jesus heals a blind man

Lynne Baab • Wednesday April 17 2024

Early in his ministry, Jesus reads from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue on the Sabbath. After he rolls up the scroll and sits back down, he says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). One component of the prophecy in Isaiah is “recovery of sight to the blind” (Luke 4:18). In his ministry, as recounted in all four gospels, Jesus heals a good number of people who are physically blind.

Jesus often juxtaposes physical healing of blindness with direct or indirect statements about spiritual blindness. Jesus’ concern with spiritual blindness is a strong call...

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Praying about Jesus’s miracles: Jesus touches and heals a man with leprosy

Lynne Baab • Wednesday April 10 2024

At age 20, I encountered for the first time the miracle of Jesus touching and healing a man with leprosy in Mark 1:40-45. Ever since then, I have marveled at the intimacy and radicality of Jesus’s touch. (Yes, I just learned that “radicality” is a word. I wanted to use “radicalness,” but I couldn’t find that word online. I think radicality will be my new favorite word. So much of Jesus’s ministry seems to me to be radical, using this definition: change or action relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something.)

Last week, while I was pondering how to write this...

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First post in a new series: Praying about Jesus’s miracles

Lynne Baab • Wednesday April 3 2024

Jesus turns water into wine. I click on my laptop screen. These two events are connected in my mind, and today I want to tell you how and why.

On Tuesday two weeks ago, I clicked the online button to set up my Patreon account. This had been in the works for nine months. Most of that time involved trying to get my mind around doing it — something God continued to nudge me about and that I had no desire to do. However, despite my resistance, I completed numerous small steps now and then. The Patreon account allows my beloved readers...

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Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Reflecting on the series

Lynne Baab • Wednesday March 27 2024

Empathy is complicated. People often experience shame when they feel lonely. I am not the only person who defaults to advice-giving when trying to listen carefully. The pandemic left us with “learned loneliness.” Hugs are problematic for some people, so we need to ask permission. These are some of the ideas I have written about in the past six months that readers have resonated with and commented on.

Just over six months ago, I began this series. I was motivated to write about friendship and loneliness because of press coverage of post-covid loneliness. Public health researchers hypothesize that many people lost natural...

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