Almost every morning as I spend 20 minutes on an aerobic “torture machine” at the Creighton fitness center, I badger God with whatever is on my mind, some of it important, some of it trivial.

 •Please let Creighton beat Southern Illinois.
 •Please help S. with her accounting test.
 •Please help (whoever I know is sick).
 •Please let it rain, especially in Nebraska City.
 •Please let lots of students send in their freshman deposits.

Does God care about such mundane matters?  Do we need signs of his intervention to believe?  What if he seems to be pushing the delete button on our petitions? 

These questions are timeless – the Point/Counterpoint of today’s readings:

Acts vs. John - The Church grows because the apostles work signs but many who demanded such signs deserted Jesus because they didn’t get them.  The surviving apostles had to accept this reality. 

Two millennia later, we still struggle with the same central question.  Can we love the God who makes no promises for this life but offers Spirit for all eternity?  That’s what Jesus asks us to do in today’s Gospel.

Even when we accept that faith there is no guaranteed ticket to getting what we want, we still ask God to sit on our team’s bench and by our side during exams.  What’s the harm?  Could it just possibly help? 

We believe that God answers prayers, just not always in the form we seek.  That’s what faith is all about.