21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” 35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” 36 Overhearing[a] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” 37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

When she was an infant, Ashley Rose Murphy was extremely sick. Murphy was born with HIV, which she contracted from her late birth mother. After spending over three months in a coma, she was placed into palliative care, taken in by adoptive parents, and given just weeks to live. Over 18 years later, the teen is very much alive and making her voice heard as a fierce advocate for HIV awareness. Murphy says the widespread fear of HIV stems from a lack of knowledge, which is why she speaks so openly about it. She speaks at school and conferences to educate both kids and adults about the virus, so they understand what it is and what it's like to live with it. Sometimes the worst part of the suffering is the stigma derived from the attitude of people around, and sometimes coming from religious people.

In the gospel of Mark, we find a story about a woman affected by a health issue and the stigma derived. "And there was a woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years" (v. 25). This woman has suffered at the hands of many doctors, who took her money without curing her. Her circumstances are very different from Jairo's. Her discharge, probably her vaginal discharge, ritually defiles her, isolating her from all human contact. Not only is she considered defiled or impure, but her touch also defiles anyone she touches. She dirties even the bed in which she sleeps and the chair in which she sits, and these then transmit her impurity to whoever touches them (Lev. 15: 25-30). Given the ease with which a man can divorce his wife (see Matthew 5:31), it seems likely that her husband would have divorced her long ago. Her condition would make it impossible for her to find a job as a domestic servant. Ironically, her condition renders her unable to attend Jairus' synagogue (Cousar, 410). Her situation is like that of a leper (see 1:40-45). She is completely isolated from any social contact. This type of isolation must be almost unbearable. This woman is an "outsider" - a person she does not count, that she does not belong with. 

"When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind her among the company and touched her garment" (v. 27). Jairus approached Jesus directly, face to face, but this woman approached Jesus from behind, hidden in the crowd. She believes that just by touching Jesus' garment, she will be cured (v. 28). Having had to avoid touching others for so many years, it would take a lot of effort on her part to reach out and touch Jesus' garment. Although she may have heard the story of Jesus touching a leper (1:41), it would be difficult to imagine that Jesus would invite her touch. However, "Instead of impurity passing from the woman to Jesus, the power to heal flows from Jesus to the woman". Immediately upon touching Jesus' garment, "the fountain of her blood dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed from that scourge" (v. 29). Jesus realizes what virtue has come out of him and asks, "Who touched my dress?" (v. 30). Hearing this, the disciples think it is an unreasonable question, considering the crowd around him. However, the woman falls before Jesus and tells him the whole truth (v. 33). Jesus says, "Daughter, your faith has saved you: she sees in peace, and she is healed from your scourge" (v. 34). Notice that, by touching her clothes, she was healed of her illness. But only after she presents herself to Jesus does he say, "Daughter, your faith has saved you (sozo - has saved you)" (Williamson, 110).

Notice the relationship between faith and saving. "Daughter, your faith has made you saved" (v. 34). In the next chapter, Jesus will visit his hometown, where he will be unable to do any works of power because of the people's unbelief (6:1-6). The power by which Jesus heals is the power of God. The individual's faith, however, is an important component of receiving God's blessing. The word "daughter" may sound a little paternal to those of us in the 21st century, but in the time of Jesus, it was a normal way of address. The use of the word reflects a care and acceptance that this woman will not have felt for a long time - a daughter is a loved one of a family. In this context, "daughter" is a saving word.

Sometimes, a social miracle in our lives, and Jesus touches our lives not just to heal us physically, but also socially. Our society has a lot of stigmas, a lot of them coming from a misunderstanding of incomplete explanations about religious conceptions. People mistreat others based on their comprehension of doctrine, practices, and even rituals, but what about Jesus? What does Jesus really do? In the Bible, Jesus shows us an inclusive love where the universal call for salvation represents an opportunity to create spaces for inclusion. Migrants, minorities, poor, or sick, they are people rejected due to their conditions, and sometimes they aе mistreated due to negative stigmas created by societies full of codes of power and discrimination. In the national Indigenous History month, we must recognize that these tracks are part of our history.

The good thing for us is Wesley talks about Social Holiness through which invite us to live our holiness not alone but in community and as people who regenerate not facilities but lives. Jesus touched people around him, it doesn't matter their conditions, He walked with poors, sicks, discriminated, how can we live in such a way that we can honor this teaching coming from Jesus' practice. Theology is not just about knowledge, but about experiences and attitudes. When we are challenged to recognize our own weaknesses as human beings through illness and other pain, we can remember all the pain experienced by many people around the world who are affected not just by personal sins but structural sin, which is disseminated through the system and relationships. 

In 1846, Ignaz Semmelweis realized doctors could prevent disease by washing their hands and sterilizing instruments between patients. As Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis made his rounds through the maternity wards at the General Hospital of Vienna in 1846, he made an astonishing discovery. The discovery meant that doctors were previously responsible for causing deaths related to postpartum infections, and Semmelweis made enemies as he ridiculed professionals who didn't agree with his protocols. Doctors eventually stopped washing their hands with chlorine, and Semmelweis lost his job. He was placed in an institution after developing mental health problems at age 47 and eventually passed from sepsis,  the same type of severe, systemic infection he tried to cure years ago.

We need to assume the hope of the Gospel; we need to be touched by Jesus to heal because He is the only one capable of healing us as individuals and as a society. As the women in the Gospel of Mark, we must be delivered to the world, clean and restored in Jesus' name.

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.​ 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

When and how are we called to use faith? Or what is faith for? On 15 April 1912, the Wallace Hartley Band was led by Wallace Hartley, a 33 year-old English violinist who, along with seven other musicians: Roger Bricoux, John Wesley Woodward, Fred Clarke, Percy Taylor, George Krins, Theodore Brailey and John Jock Hume, made up the 'Colne Band' and was hired to play at the Titanic ship's dinners and parties. The band had gained some recognition in England, where most of the participants were from. In Geoff Tibballs' book, titled 'The Titanic: The Extraordinary Story of the Shipwreck Proof Ship', the author says that about an hour after the group started playing amid the tragedy at around two in the morning, Wallace told his musicians that they could leave and try to save themselves, but none of them moved from their place. Apparently, some people who were located close to the musicians asked them to perform religious songs, among the options is the melody of 'Nearer, My God, to Thee' or 'Our God, our Help in Ages', but the survivors do not clearly remember what the last thing was they heard. The truth is that a little before the ship reached an inclination that did not allow anyone to stand, the music stopped playing.

The first thing that we need to check in the text is the genre of the pericopes 4,35-41 (from the Greek word meaning "cut around"). In chapters 8 and 9, Matthew compiles eleven parables on healing while adding a few more verses. Though they are in different forms, Mark and Luke include most of the passages. Matthew gathered the healings in one place, but Mark and Luke distributed them in different ways. Since the authors of the Gospels modified the material to suit their needs, it makes sense to infer that early Christian teachers also told Jesus stories in a didactic way. 

Pericopes 4,35-41 about "the calm storm" is part of a set of stories immediately after the parable stories; The pericope in question is the link between the first two sections that, with a third address the topic: Who is Jesus? The miracles of the calm storm, (4,35-41); the demonpossessed man of Gerasa (5:1-20); the resurrection of Jairus' daughter and the healing of the hemorrhagic woman (5:21-43), while presented as confirmation of the power of Jesus already expressed by word, in the previous section on the parables, also links to the following section that precisely begins with the rejection of Jesus in Nazareth. 

Jesus presents himself as a prophet, and that is precisely what people ask themselves (6:14-15), then Peter affirms "You are the Christ" (8:29); This progressive pedagogy of Mark presents followers, even the disciples of Jesus themselves, questioning the messianism of Jesus, and reaching this conclusion in the Transfiguration; In the last part of the Gospel the culmination is the confirmation of "Jesus Son of God", with his passion and resurrection. Precisely in this context, pericope 4,35,41 wants to present Jesus as Lord of nature; However, Marcos does not use the word Kyrios at any time, but he demonstrates it. Along with the demonstration of his power, confirming the parabolic discourse, the questions about Jesus.

It's interesting to check the condition of both parties represented in the passage; the rich boy had a lot of things to lose, as the bible says. On the other hand, there appeared the disciples who were poor people, fishers, sick, some of them were people in a wealthy position, but the majority were crowds of people in disadvantage. Even that, the question coming from Peter reminds us of human nature because all the time the reaction is to think about all the material things that we accumulate, and we can lose with a simple decision, as follows, Jesus. The truth is that God's Kingdom is a dimension that transcends human comprehension, transcends the human limitations about holding all the wealth and giving to the poor a possibility as deliverance from selfishness and ego. Also, God's limitation transcends the human limitation about life because it is beyond human time but eternity. In the context of the passage, the reference to the Roman Cesar who accumulated a lot of power and a lot of wealth, but also appears the image of Jesus, the Son of God, who was the real owner of everything. Meanwhile, Jesus was talking about leaving house and lands, and the disciples did it; they sold their lands and opened their homes to others. No one, only God, is capable of controlling this dimension of reality because nobody is bigger than God, and no one can be more powerful than God.

The historical and biblical evidence shows that the commitment of the disciples to follow this ethical program coming from Jesus, starting with renunciation but following with the solidarity as appears in the passage as Acts 4:36, was the seed of a new humanity. The early church was the seed for a new programmatic human project. Talking about mission, we can share the story of Jim (1927-1956) and Elisabeth (1926-2015) Elliot; Jim and Elisabeth met in college, but they didn't get married until they separately went to Ecuador to minister to the Quichua. They married in Quito and moved to a more remote area to try to contact the Huaorani tribe (called the Aucas by the Quichua). Jim and four other missionaries were later killed by the tribe they were trying to reach. After her husband's death, Elisabeth returned and spent two years ministering to the tribe that killed him. Elisabeth Elliot is one of the most well-known and loved women missionaries of the last few generations. Through her extensive speaking and many beautiful books, her legacy and inspiration will live on in the hearts of all who read them. 

The reward is contained in the cost of discipleship. The sense of discipleship includes renunciation, but has as a consequence not something to seek, but as part of God's promise. Nowadays, some Christian, as Julian the apostate, teach wrongly the material wealth is the only evidence of Christianism, especially the prosperity theologians try to teach that God only bless His people trough material signs, this prosperity thinkers follows the path ofthe Pharisees, who saw in riches a sign of their own justice, a reward from God to the righteous, and a means of increasing it by giving alms. They still believe that this way of earning heaven with alms allows, and even justifies, preserving and increasing wealth. They continue acting according to the Jewish doctrine in use, he who gives alms in heaven acquires a treasure in heaven and on earth also. The reality is God is the same in our poverty or in our abundance. The influence of Jesus was not so much due to the novelty of his teaching as to the mysterious power of attraction that radiated from his whole person. Many upright and religious men suddenly discovered on meeting him what it means to be perfect. If we have been disciples of Jesus, it doesn't matter our material or physical condition. God has kept a promise for us; we can live a life full of sense, meaning, and purpose, and share this legacy with the new generations, and God has kept a place for us in eternity to share His love forever.

26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” 30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” 33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Jesus Christ in the gospel of Mark is presented precisely through the paradoxical link between humanity and divinity that strangely ends with death and takes a full, complete turn with the resurrection, and all happens with the intention of presenting Jesus the man, Son of God. There is a clue present in all of Marcos' work, which is the rejection and incomprehension; in such a way that we can conclude that his Christology is based on the extraordinary, misunderstood, and rejected man who presents himself as the Son of God, and progressively confirms it in words (preaching) and works (miracles), and this reaches its culmination in the resurrection. What interests Mark in the first place in his work is the paradox of Jesus, misunderstood and rejected by men, but sent to triumph by God.

The intention is framed in the messianism of Marcos; The first part of the gospel refers to the ministry of Jesus, presenting him as an extraordinary man, but not sufficiently understood; The designation "Son of man" precisely reveals the paradox of the "man-Son of GodMessiah", but it precisely exposes the problem of the "Messianic Mystery of Jesus", what has been called the "Messianic Mystery of Mark", and it presenting in the middle of a game of questions and statements that lead to a conclusion related in the second part of the Gospel. Jesus presents himself as a prophet, and that is precisely what people ask themselves (6:14- 15), then Peter affirms "You are the Christ" (8:29); This progressive pedagogy of Mark presents followers, even the disciples of Jesus themselves, questioning the messianism of Jesus, and reaching this conclusion in the Transfiguration; In the last part of the Gospel the culmination is the confirmation of "Jesus Son of God", with his passion and resurrection. 

Mark 4:26 says, "This is the kingdom of God, as when a man casts seed on the ground; and he sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows without him knowing how." In the Christian life, I believe that it is essential to water everything with prayer, but according to this verse, you do not have to do anything for there to be fruit... Your part is to sow without fainting. The harvest does not depend on you since only the Holy Spirit can convince, but let us ask God for opportunities to sow. 

In those lands, the main crops were vineyards, olive trees, and cereals. They could be large properties of land that belonged to wealthy people, and they put them in the hands of an administrator, or small family plots that were inherited from parents to children and were cultivated by themselves. There were also lands under lease, whose tenants had to deliver a part of the harvest to the owner, and there were day laborers with the day's wages. Let us remember the parable of the murderous vinedressers (Mk 12, 1-2) and the workers in the vineyard (Mt 20, 1-15). Land and family were among the most important pillars of the Jewish religion, and the land belonged to God. Jesus lives in this rural environment. He had possibly made plows, yokes, and other implements during his years as a carpenter, figures that he would use as symbols to illustrate his teachings. He is an itinerant teacher who usually speaks in public places such as synagogues or outdoor spaces, and can attract not only his disciples, but also his teachings are available to all who want to listen to him, and who, sometimes, he usually ends them with the phrase: he who has ears to hear, let him hear. 

Mesalim is the Hebrew word that translates as parable, proverb, or saying, very similar concepts that compare and illustrate moments in life. We know that parables are a way of communicating, of making people think or guessing their meaning. Jesus teaches through them and uses such everyday topics at that time as work in the field, the home, the sea, and fishing, and events that occur on the roads. That was a population of farmers, shepherds, and fishermen. The text says that that day he spoke to them about many topics, the tares, the mustard seed, the yeast, and, among them, he spoke to them about the sower. Sometimes we get tired of sowing because apparently there is no result. We sow effort, time for God, moments to bless people, our whole life... and it seems that there is no fruit, but in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 11 and verse 1 it says: "Cast your bread on the waters; because after many days you will find it."And Galatians 6:7 also says: "Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked: for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." If we sometimes use this verse to advise others by telling them not to do bad things since that is what they will reap, why not also apply it to encourage each other to sow good things, such as words of blessing or encouragement?

Once upon a time, there was a man who got on the bus every day to go to work. One stop later, an old woman came up and sat next to the window. The old woman opened a bag, and, throughout the journey, she was throwing something out the window. She always did the same thing, and one day, intrigued, the man asked her what she was doing. - They are seeds! - the old woman told him. - Seeds? Seeds of what? - Of flowers... I look outside, and everything is so empty! I would like to be able to travel, seeing flowers all the way. It would be very nice, don't you think? - But the seeds fall on the asphalt, they are crushed by cars, the birds eat them... Do you really think that your seeds will germinate on the side of the road? - For sure, yes. Although some are lost, some will end up in the gutter and, over time, will sprout. - But... they will take time to grow; they need water. - I do what I can do. Soon will come the days of rain! The old woman continued with her work... And the man got off the bus to go to work, thinking that the old woman had lost her mind a little. A few months later, while going to work, the man, looking out the window, saw the entire road full of flowers. All he saw was a colorful, flowery landscape! He remembered the old woman, but he had not seen her for days. Then he asked the driver: - Do you know anything about the old woman with the seeds? "Well, she died a month ago," was the response. The man returned to his seat and continued looking at the landscape. "The flowers have bloomed," he said to himself, "but what good has his work done? He has not been able to see his work." He suddenly heard the laughter of a little child. A girl excitedly pointed to the flowers...- Look, Dad! Look at how many flowers! They say that that man, since that day, makes the trip from home to work with a bag of seeds that he throws out the window. 

The Bible says that in his time we will reap if we do not faint, although in the case of the old woman in our story, it was others who enjoyed the blessings of the harvest. She released the seed, trusting that it would sprout by itself, regardless of who would see it, although I believe that sooner or later, we will see all or part of the fruit if we are faithful in the sowing. We need to keep moving in faith, sowing our seed, and God, who is faithful, will give us the growth that we expect. The right seed is the gospel, and human hearts are the land where we need to sow the hope and love coming from Jesus, our Lord.

Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” 4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. ​5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

When we consider different aspects of faith, we can recognize that there are two deep dimensions of it. First one, faith is a simple expression of human transcendence through which it is possible experience God's presence, especially when we face different issues. Secondly, once faith is organized, it operates in a framework that is related to other aspects, such as the culture, the traditions, and even ideologies. Sometimes it's hard to establish the frontiers between these different aspects, and we can confuse our spirituality with religion, our beliefs with ideologies, and our devotion with culture and traditions. That was the situation for Jews people even nowadays, but above all, during the Old Testament, nevertheless God presented Himself to them with different expressions of love and care and they were witness of His mercy and protection, the result was that generations of Jews developed the awareness about they are God's people, and they were totally right, but they forgot the main sense of this nature based in the God's plan more than their particular interests.

We can reflect on the previous paragraph's consideration through the passage of Mark 3: 1-6 where we found a concrete situation in which all these aspects of faith are involved. We can start analyzing the three persons involved in the passage. The first character is a person, without a name but with a condition; this man had a health issue in his hand, this person represents the whole of humanity affected throughout history by different diseases and illnesses. In this passage,e there is no reference to the cause of the problem but the personal reality as a person in need. The second character is Jesus, who is sensitized to the condition of this man and decides to act with mercy and love in favor of this person. Jesus also represents the part of humanity that assumes the pain of others with empathy, solidarity, and stewardship. The third character is the Pharisees group, which is a religious group with a lot of power derivative of their function based on traditions and culture. The Pharisees represent people affected by ideologies, religious or not, but this part of humanity that lives in a continuous cycle of scepticism and is trapped by ideologies and traditions. 

We can reflect on the different conflicts contained in the passage. The first conflict is the one that the man has with his own situation. He is suffering from the pain and the inflammation in his hand, which reduces his ability to work and live normally. This condition diminishes his dignity and his self-esteem, and this person depended on the charity coming from others to survive. The second conflict is the one the Pharisees showed against Jesus, whom they perceived as a threat to their interests due to the impact that Jesus had on the people around. Jesus represents a change for them, and they are not comfortable with that, so the conflict appears since they don't want to accept any kind of change in their status quo. The third conflict is reflected by Jesus, who expressed his discomfort with the attitude of the religious leaders due to a disconnection with God's plan to spread His love for humanity. As the conflict theory teach sometime the conflict is a set of various conflicts, because when we found usually, we must explore all the rest of the conflicts derived or involved before considering any kind of solution.

The passage also shows us different results from the same interaction. For example, for the person in need, the result of the interaction with Jesus was his healing, his health issue in his hand was healed, and he obtained a more empowered new life. For the pharisees the result was their decision to plot with Herodians against Jesus, and even they started to consider killing Him. For Jesus, the result was the way that His authority was showed for the humanity and how God's love was spread to people in need. The same situation had different dimensions for people involved in the same passage, as usually happens in life in general, not just for religious purposes, but in our daily life, we can face different situations with the same people and have different positions about them.

One thing that we can learn from this biblical passage is about how faith acts in ways that impact our simple reality, our personal reality, with little gestures coming from nature, from the simplicity of the days for good and for bed, our daily fights against our illness or our troubles. Usually, people react against the kindness even if they are not clear why, sometimes they have faced situation in their personal journey which has affected their perception of the reality, traumas and stress derivate from critical incidents can create a sense of cynicism or pessimism about life and sometimes we combine it with traditions or religions ideas and the result is a ideological interpretation of the spirituality. Jesus always acts in favor of people in need, in spite of the opposition; God shows His love and mercy even above human prejudice and judgments.

​We are people in need, all of us; we need God's mercy and God's love in our lives to alleviate our illness, loneliness, troubles, which are part of our personal reality, and God wants to be there with us to give the relief and the comfort through His Holy Spirit. Even so, we face the attitude of people around us who create tensions, doubts, and with their attitudes affect our faith and our spirituality. We must remember that Jesus always strengthens our faith through His signs, faithfulness, and mercy, and we can rest in His goodwill for our lives amid the tensions of our hard days, but also celebrate His presence in our lives in the little gestures and tenderness through a lot of simple details. We need to increase our spiritual sensibility to perceive God's presence in everything through our worship and prayer journey. We need to stretch out our faith to touch God's will, which is in our favor, and to receive the blessing coming from the highest.