A work of fiction inspired by Christ's healing of Peter's mother-in-law in
“Peter, I don’t understand why you are hanging out with that man. You should be staying home and providing for your wife. How do you expect her to have food on the table and live without you working? The fish that you catch is what provides for us as a household. Your home cannot live without that income, I don’t understand you at all.”
(Peter bends his head and walks away.)
“Muriel, mother, how can you say that about your son-in-law? Peter has worked so hard in the past, he will also do so in the future as well.”
“Then why is he not doing so now Sarah? He takes off with that individual from Nazareth and doesn’t show up for days and weeks on end. This is not like Peter; in the past he has always been so good at being responsible. I don’t understand why he would hang around with someone from Nazareth of all places, no good can come of it I tell you!”
“Mother, when has Peter made any bad choices since you have known him? In the past he has always worked so hard and stayed out to sea until he has caught enough for us to live on, and more! Peter will continue to do this and I know that he will return to us when the time is right.”
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| Family and friends celebrating together. |
“I hope you are right my dear, we have not eaten as well since he has started following this man, and we are living on our savings right now. What will we do when that is gone? I have money put away; perhaps we can live on that for a while. Your father and I worked all our lives for this and now I am afraid we must see it go out the window so Peter can run all over the country chasing after this man of Nazareth. Did you know that Andrew is also following after this same man? What is their father going to do now that he has lost both his sons to this upstart? I don’t know what this world is coming to. Pretty soon before you know it, this Nazarene will have more men leaving their families, and where will their households be? I tell you, I don’t know what is going to happen to our world? I heard people say that this Nazarene is preaching that we should be free of the Romans and start to prepare for a new kingdom, and some are saying that he should rule over it. What nonsense could one ever hear? Pretty soon the Romans will stop him and within that time, Peter and Andrew will be in trouble as well. Then what will happen to our families, what then?"
"Mother, please do not get so upset, you are going to make yourself sick worrying about the future. I am sure that God knows our needs and he will take care of us."
"I wish I could believe as you do Sarah, or does it take someone like myself whose head is not in the clouds to see us through this trouble we are heading into, I just don’t know."
"Mother, please sit down, you are getting so worked up that I am afraid you will have a relapse with your sickness again. You are just beginning to get well and I am afraid that if you don’t relax and stop worrying, you will end up in bed once more, and perhaps you will be worse off than before. Your stomach cannot handle this stress that you put yourself in. Don’t you remember how you coughed up blood, and eating for you seemed almost impossible? You could not handle it when papa died, all that stress of his funeral and burial and then the loss of missing him so. God has brought you through that time, and look; now you are living with us. I love you so and Peter loves you as well."
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| Making a home. |
"I know that you and Peter care for me very much Sarah, but I cannot accept Peter doing this, leaving us at this crucial time when he is so needed here at home. It is not right that Peter’s father is left taking care of so many, while Peter traipses off all over the country. I cannot understand that what he is doing is just and responsible!"
"Mother, please let us go and prepare supper; our family must be getting hungry."
(Sarah stops and looks into her mother’s worried face.)
"Mother, let us spend some time praying about this, I know that if God is in this, that is, in what Peter is doing, then our Lord will provide for all our needs."
"All right my dear, it is good to pray." To be continued . . .
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