Navigating our way through life can be scary business and many people are tempted to search for tools and weapons to make their way easier. Money, power, relationships, questionable spiritual 'practices' and shortcuts are just a few of the ways that people take to fill the emptiness within themselves and quiet the fear that is their constant companion. Isaiah insists that there is only one loving force behind everything and that is God and it is God alone who is worthy of worship and trust.

Even John the Baptist had doubts. He knew he would never leave prison alive but he wanted assurance that Jesus was the promised one. Jesus does not answer the messengers directly. Instead he asks them to look around. What do you see? People healed, cleansed, restored, forgiven, and given hope. These are the infallible signs of God's presence. Do we find these signs in our own individual lives and in our Christian communities? Many claim to speak and act in God's name but God is manifested as light, love, reconciliation, healing, and hope. Where these are absent all the 'God-talk' in the world will not make up for it. And when they are present they are often found in unlikely places and people. Is Jesus the one? Look in your own life - and in the lives of others. That is the only proof that is convincing.