In today’s gospel, Jesus is confronted and questioned. It would be one thing if the questioning were motivated by genuine curiosity and seeking to learn. But this is conniving and manipulative, trying to trap Jesus so that they find an accusation against him. But Jesus doesn’t take the bait. Instead, he poses a question of his own.

The gospels offer us many examples of Jesus as the Messiah. How much more evidence did the priests, scribes, and elders need before recognizing Jesus for who he is? In hindsight, it’s easy for us to scoff at the absurdity of their refusal, but aren’t we also sometimes guilty of the same inability to see what is right in front of us?

I’m reminded of the treasured allegory “Footprints in the Sand,” where a man dreamed he was walking along the beach with God and could see two pairs of footprints in the sand. Scenes from his life flashed across the sky. He noticed that during his lowest and most hopeless times, he saw only one pair of footprints, leading him to question, “God, why did you leave me during the most difficult times in my life?” God answered, “It was during those times that I carried you.”

God’s love is known to us every day in the majesty of the Pacific Northwest, the grandeur of the Grand Canyon, or the radiant colors of a wildflower bloom in the barren desert. God is present when a father holds his newborn daughter for the first time, when we care for our aging parents, or when someone voluntarily gives up their seat for a stranger. God’s love is in the multitude of small favors and forgiveness we extend to family, friends, and neighbors.

So long as we have faithful hearts and a willingness to see the countless graces in our lives, we don’t have to question by whose authority our lives are so enriched and blessed. Indeed, the evidence of God in our lives surrounds us every day.