103 sermons and four stories between the two of us, but all ways of celebrating the goodness of hope and healing. From the gospel of Mark, two intertwined stories of a desperate woman healed and a young girl raised from the dead - both of whom needed Jesus' power and great faith. And from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), two stories of powerful men struggling with some kind of mental/spiritual illness - both of whom needed time and the support of their communities to heal. Resonant and relevant, these stories still hit us where we live: squarely in the messy, blessed mix of humanity.