The world, and our culture especially, fills us with a false hope that every question has an answer, an answer which will soon be available to us.  The good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection, however, speaks to our heart in the midst of mystery, saying, ‘In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

We live in a world of scientific explanations, unassailable facts, and cultural assumptions. They respectively state, “Everything has a reason, we know the reasons, and therefore you can live the good life.” If only that were true!  It’s not that science isn’t valuable (it is) or that facts don’t exist (they do) or even that some cultural assumptions aren’t helpful (they are), but many of us are unprepared for life, living like disasters weren’t coming.  I would know, because I’m talking about myself.   Johanna’s illness didn’t just change every aspect of my daily life, it changed every aspect of my thinking.  My belief that medical sciences held the key to Johanna’s health died a slow, painful death.  So, too, did my belief in my own ability to keep her safe.

When Johanna was first hospitalized nearly five years ago, she faced a barrage of medical tests.  She had blood cultures, sputum cultures, CAT scans, X rays, antibody tests, breathing tests, and many more I’ve forgotten.  What they found was remarkable because although there were odd results, none of them were indicative of a known illness. Johanna had been running daily fevers, experiencing anaphylactic like symptoms, and feeling miserable throughout each day of her hospital stay.  Yet none of these tests explained these mysterious symptoms.  The team of doctors were very confused.  Each hematologist, rheumatologist, oncologist, and physician faced a plethora of mysterious symptoms, none of which pointed in any certain direction.

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