Tomorrow in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania television crews will be broadcasting the weather, based on the actions of a furry rodent! If the day is bright and sunny, he'll see his shadow and will want to burrow back into his warm, cozy retreat and we'll have six more weeks of winter. If, however, he emerges from his burrow and fails to see a shadow, winter will soon end. My thought is, with the numerous camera lights shining on him, isn't seeing his shadow a promising reality?

Not withstanding my skepticism of his meteorological capabilities, there are groups that have tracked the accuracy of his prediction over the years. Depending on what group's analysis you believe, anywhere from 37 to 90 percent of the time he's predicted correctly! So are you hoping he sees his shadow tomorrow or are you hoping he wants to stay out of his burrow, enjoying the cloud cover as he romps around?

In today's gospel reading, Mark shares with us the amazement people in Capernaum had one day when gathered in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Christ was in the middle of teaching a lesson when a disturbance erupted, a commotion that probably resulted in people being annoyed. Their thoughts were probably something like ones we have when we are captivated by an event and the phone rings or a child makes a request at the most inopportune time. I can imagine them thinking these thoughts to themselves, or maybe murmuring them to the person standing next to them, "Oh my, there goes so and so again!" "Why did his mother let him out of the house, today of all days?" "He must have forgotten to take his medicine!" "I wonder how our eloquent speaker is going to handle this outburst."

And as they were carrying on these conversations, Christ sternly directed this comment to the evil spirit living inside the man, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And the evil spirit immediately complied. Those gathered were amazed and asked each other, "Who is this that can give orders to evil spirits, and they obey him?"

Tomorrow the news of Punxsutawney Phil's weather prediction will be carried on all news outlets. It will be discussed briefly at work or in classrooms, analyzed by scientists or groundhog groupies, but quickly dismissed when the daffodils and tulips emerge and the snow shovels are stowed away for another year. However, the news about the miracle Christ performed in a city along the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee continues today. We are still amazed by His teaching, His life, and most importantly, His resurrection from the dead.

Only God can predict with 100 percent accuracy what the future weather patterns will be. Only God can answer our prayers. What a privilege and honor it is to worship Him as our Lord and Savior.

Enjoying the ride,

Jane