
What did they expect when they followed him to Bethany, a whole day’s journey from the scene of Jerusalem’s crime and its surprising aftermath? He had been talking about what they would do next, but he kept leaving out his part whenever they tried to tie him down on that point. He repeated his big dream for them one more time before he grinned and a gust of wind picked him up. A brief tug of war with gravity (they groped for him, futile attempts to keep him grounded, to call him back: please, please, don’t let him get away!) but Houdini Jesus shrugged and sighed at their tattered faith trying to hold him in its tether. When he looked up again, a mysterious, animated mist appeared, beckoning and embracing him. He relaxed into the welcome. Only in his absence would their understanding bloom and go to seed, a dandelion puff the Spirit could not resist scattering everywhere out of control, finding purchase in the most unexpected places.