Tobit asked, "Brother, tell me, please, what family and tribe are you from?" Raphael said: "Why? Do you need a tribe and a family? Or are you looking for a hired man to travel with your son?" Tobit replied, "I wish to know truthfully whose son you are, brother, and what your name is." Raphael answered, "I am Azariah, son of Hananiah the elder, one of your own kinsmen." Tobit exclaimed: "Welcome! God save you, brother! Do not be provoked with me, brother, for wanting to learn the truth about your family. So it turns out that you are a kinsman, and from a noble and good line! I knew Hananiah and Nathaniah, the two sons of Shemaiah the elder; with me they used to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where we would worship together. No, they did not stray from the right path; your kinsmen are good men. You are certainly of good lineage, and welcome!" (Tobit 5: 11-14)

We want to know more than we need to know.

The "young man's" answer is sharp. He accuses Tobit of wanting more than he needs.

My wife and I were concerned about our son taking a job that might distract from his studies. He explained, without irony, that the job would give him money "for things I don't need." May he always be so self-aware.

The angel's response misleads, but it is not a lie. Azariah means God Helps. Hananiah means God is merciful. Nathaniah, God gives. Shemaiah, God hears.

This is all we need to know: God helps, God gives, God hears, and God is merciful.

Tobiah went back to tell his father Tobit what had happened. He said to him, "I have just found a man who is one of our own Israelite kinsmen!" Tobit said, "Call the man, so that I may find out what family and tribe he comes from, and whether he is trustworthy enough to travel with you, son." Tobiah went out to summon the man, saying, "Young man, my father would like to see you." When Raphael entered the house, Tobit greeted him first. Raphael said, "Hearty greetings to you!" Tobit replied: "What joy is left for me any more? Here I am, a blind man who cannot see God's sunlight, but must remain in darkness, like the dead who no longer see the light! Though alive, I am among the dead. I can hear a man's voice, but I cannot see him." Raphael said, "Take courage! God has healing in store for you; so take courage!" Tobit then said: "My son Tobiah wants to go to Media. Can you go with him to show him the way? I will of course pay you, brother." Raphael answered: "Yes, I can go with him, for I know all the routes. I have often traveled to Media and crossed all its plains and mountains; so I know every road well." (Tobit 5: 9-10)

In the Greek, the angel's "hearty greetings" can also mean "much joy," hence Tobit's bitter reply.

Angels are often - even usually - heralds of great joy: victory, new birth, a promise kept, and in this case healing to come.

Tobit does not recognize the angel and he ignores the promise of joy and health. He is, however, attentive to this stranger's ability to help claim the money.

How often have I been blind to God's gifts? How often has God offered my deepest desires, but I have been too preoccupied to notice?

May I attend to this world more carefully. May I do better to sense the spiritual as well as the physical.

Above is Raphael with Tobias (and the Archangels Michael and Gabriel as well) by Francesco Botticini.

Tobiah went to look for someone acquainted with the roads who would travel with him to Media. As soon as he went out, he found the angel Raphael standing before him, though he did not know that this was an angel of God. Tobiah said to him, "Who are you, young man?" He replied "I am an Israelite, one of your kinsmen. I have come here to work." Tobiah said, "Do you know the way to Media?" The other replied: "Yes, I have been there many times. I know the place well and I know all the routes. I have often traveled to Media; I used to stay with our kinsman Gabael, who lives at Rages in Media. It is a good two days' travel from Ecbatana to Rages, for Rages is situated at the mountains, Ecbatana out on the plateau." Tobiah said to him, "Wait for me, young man, till I go back and tell my father; for I need you to make the journey with me. I will, of course, pay you." Raphael replied, "Very well, I will wait for you; but do not be long." (Tobit 5: 4-8)

"As soon as he went out..." could certainly be played for laughs. Other versions suggest it may have taken Tobiah a while to find Raphael.

In any case Tobiah seeks and he finds. He does not fully understand what he has found. But he understands enough to begin the journey.

The angel's detailed response regarding his past experience encourages Tobiah.

But the angel's reality is different from ours. What he says takes two days travel required eleven days when Alexander the Great covered the same distance in a forced march.

God will give us what we need today. It is often best we not know what is ahead. We can still hope and plan, but it is more important to seek the way of God.

Then Tobiah replied to his father Tobit: "Everything that you have commanded me, father, I will do. But how shall I be able to obtain the money from him, since he does not know me nor do I know him? What can I show him to make him recognize me and trust me, so that he will give me the money? I do not even know which roads to take for the journey into Media!" Tobit answered his son Tobiah: "We exchanged signatures on a document written in duplicate; I divided it into two parts, and each of us kept one; his copy I put with the money. Think of it, twenty years have already passed since I deposited that money! So now, my son, find yourself a trustworthy man who will make the journey with you. We will, of course, give him a salary when you return; but get back that money from Gabael." (Tobit 5: 1-3)

In both teaching and managing it is helpful to notice what prompts a question. When there is a question, there is curiousity, and with curiousity there is thinking.

If there are no questions I can usually be certain nothing has been learned or I am going to have a tough time achieving my management goals.

Tobit has offered commandments regarding his son's relationship with God, service to neighbors, care for strangers, whom he should marry, and many other aspects of living.

Tobiah's only question relates to how he will claim the money. Regarding all else he is either well-assured or disinterested. But he has quickly perceived potential problems to be solved in his ability to claim the money.

Getting and keeping money so often preoccupies us, even to excluding our curiousity and thinking regarding much else.

"And now, son, I wish to inform you that I have deposited a great sum of money with Gabri's son Gabael at Rages in Media. Do not be discouraged, my child, because of our poverty. You will be a rich man if you fear God, avoid all sin, and do what is right before the Lord your God." (Tobit 4:20-21)

So far I perceive three ways to read the character of Tobit:

Straight: He is a spiritual everyman, trying to do his best, mostly kind and generous. But no great saint or sage. Tobit is an unconscious mix of self-interest and spiritual justification, divine will and self-will, truth and falsehood.

Comic: Tobit is a well-meaning, pious, hypocritical fool. He is his own worst enemy. He is trapped inside a religious illusion that regularly takes him down bizarre rabbit holes. Just when reality is right in front of him, he takes a sharp turn.

Tragic: He is a man of heroic spiriitual potential whose hubris is a persistent expectation that religious discipline will bring worldly success. Constantly looking for one sort of success, he is blind to a much greater treasure already at hand.

I can read my own life within similar frames. I suppose each frame overlaps with others depending on the situation.

Above is the Blind Tobit by Rembrandt.

Give to the hungry some of your bread, and to the naked some of your clothing. Whatever you have left over, give away as alms; and do not begrudge the alms you give. Be lavish with your bread and wine at the burial of the virtuous, but do not share them with sinners. "Seek counsel from every wise man, and do not think lightly of any advice that can be useful. At all times bless the Lord God, and ask him to make all your paths straight and to grant success to all your endeavors and plans. For no pagan nation possesses good counsel, but the Lord himself gives all good things. If the Lord chooses, he raises a man up; but if he should decide otherwise, he casts him down to the deepest recesses of the nether world. So now, my son, keep in mind my commandments, and never let them be erased from your heart. (Tobit 4:16-19)

Do not begrudge the alms you give... but do not share them with sinners. Is this how Tobit would want to be treated?

Seek counsel from every wise man and do not think lightly of any advice that can be useful... no pagan nation possesses good counsel.

There are unresolved tensions, perhaps even contradiction in Tobit's "commandments."

Will following the straight path result in success or is God capricious, raising up or casting down as it pleases? Is there yet another understanding?

I am sympathetic to Tobit. But I am beginning to wonder if Tobit's blindness is more than physical.

Do to no one what you yourself dislike. Do not drink wine till you become drunk, nor let drunkenness accompany you on your way. (Tobit 4:15)

Jesus offered a positive version of this maxim, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." (Matthew 7:12)

My wife cautions that I often do not want to be treated as most others want to be treated.

Somewhere I read a translation - or perhaps an exegesis - that had Jesus teach "do unto others as they wish." It is by listening to the other that we are able to understand and honor.

This torrent of maxims reminds me of Polonius sending his son off to Paris (Hamlet, Act 1, Scene III). The Golden Rule followed, without a breath, by an injunction against drunkeness makes me wonder about Tobit's sense of proportion.

Polonius is a posturing, self-deluding, confused and confusing windbag. I have not decided about Tobit.

What Polonius says is often wise, but too often his behavior does not reflect his own counsel. It would be difficult to know how to treat Polonius. He is not true to himself, so how can another be true to him?

Do not keep with you overnight the wages of any man who works for you, but pay him immediately. If you thus behave as God's servant, you will receive your reward. Keep a close watch on yourself, my son, in everything you do, and discipline yourself in all your conduct. (Tobit 4: 14)

My greatest professional frustration is delay. Today I am dealing with a client who is - again - late paying my organization.

The delay itself is less a concern than the client's silence. He did not warn us of the delay. He has not been proactive in communicating with us.

The client could pay us. Sufficient cash is available. But the client has not received funds designated for the work we performed. The client is protecting himself.

Too often in seeking our own advantage we put others at unnecessary disadvantage. We are each God's servant. Our role is to advance God's purposes, not our own.

Dear God, help me to see myself and my actions with your eyes. Assist me in choosing to do what you would choose.

Above is Rembrandt's depiction of the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. The workers are being paid by the rich owner.

Be on your guard, son, against every form of immorality, and above all, marry a woman of the lineage of your forefathers. Do not marry a stranger who is not of your father's tribe, because we are sons of the prophets. My boy, keep in mind Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our fathers from of old: all of them took wives from among their own kinsmen and were blessed in their children. Remember that their posterity shall inherit the land. Therefore, my son, love your kinsmen. Do not be so proudhearted toward your kinsmen, the sons and daughters of your people, as to refuse to take a wife for yourself from among them. For in such arrogance there is ruin and great disorder. Likewise, in worthlessness there is decay and dire poverty, for worthlessness is the mother of famine. (Tobit 4:12-13)

Despite prejudice, oppression, and genocide an abiding sense of Jewish identity persists. The identity is religious and cultural. It is also - or can be - strongly tribal.

The glorious branches of the Jewish tree reach to heaven and embrace the best of many places and cultures. But the roots prefer a particular soil of ancient origin.

Modern life is often torn between tolerance and tribalism. Those advocating tolerance at all costs see tribal tendencies as a source of strife.

To those within a tribe the demands of tolerance often seem to obscure reality and threaten ruin and great disorder.

Despite the odds Jewish tribalism has succeeded when many other tribes have failed because its deepest roots draw on a river of profound love that extends to all.

"Give alms from your possessions. Do not turn your face away from any of the poor, and God's face will not be turned away from you. Son, give alms in proportion to what you own. If you have great wealth, give alms out of your abundance; if you have but little, distribute even some of that. But do not hesitate to give alms; you will be storing up a goodly treasure for yourself against the day of adversity. Almsgiving frees one from death, and keeps one from going into the dark abode. Alms are a worthy offering in the sight of the Most High for all who give them. (Tobit 4:7-11)

Almsgiving can be an expression of צְדָקָה (zedakah or tsedeqah). This is giving that fulfills God's intent and advances justice.

Everything that we possess is owned by God. We are God's stewards. To care for those in need is a key aspect of our stewardship.

By caring for others we can find ourselves. In zedakah we recognize our self in the other and find our shared identity with God.

Perform good works all the days of your life, and do not tread the paths of wrongdoing. For if you are steadfast in your service, your good works will bring success, not only to you, but also to all those who live uprightly. (Tobit 4: 5-6)

Has Tobit been upright? Has he performed good works? Has he experienced success?

We know Tobit has been faithful in worship. We know he has given to the poor. We know he has taken considerable risk - and experienced serious consequences - for attending to the dead.

We cannot be sure that Tobit's motives were always pure. There is some suggestion that he has taken pride in his good works. We know of at least one occasion when he was impatient and harsh with his wife. Might this negate the good works?

Tobit is blind. He is dependent on others. He considers himself unsuccessful. He feels his life is no longer worth living.

What is God's definition of success? In another translation Tobit tells his son, "To those who practice righteousness, the Lord will give good counsel." How would God advise Tobit?

Above is Tobit and Tobiah depicted by Benjamin West.

So he called his son Tobiah; and when he came, he said to him: "My son, when I die, give me a decent burial. Honor your mother, and do not abandon her as long as she lives. Do whatever pleases her, and do not grieve her spirit in any way. Remember, my son, that she went through many trials for your sake while you were in her womb. And when she dies, bury her in the same grave with me. Through all your days, my son, keep the Lord in mind, and suppress every desire to sin or to break his commandments." (Tobit 4:3-5)

Tobit prepares himself for death. He does so by instructing his son. The first instruction is to honor father and mother.

In both Exodus and Deuteronomy the commandment to honor mother and father is a conditional followed by "so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you."(Exodus 20:12)

Is this a bit of irony? How does this apply when the family is in forced exile and the father has asked for death?

For the next maxim, a slightly different translation, "Be mindful of the Lord, my boy, every day of your life. Do not seek to sin or transgress His commandments."

For any post-Freudian there is a profound difference between "do not seek" or "suppress every desire." Before Freud there was more confidence in the value of doing or not doing, regardless of internal motivation.

That same day Tobit remembered the money he had deposited with Gabael at Rages in Media, and he thought, "Now that I have asked for death, why should I not call my son Tobiah and let him know about this money before I die?" (Tobit 4:1-2)

The implication is that God has caused Tobit to remember, setting in motion a divine plan.

"On the same day, at Ecbatana in Media, it so happened that Raguel's daughter Sarah also had to listen to abuse."

"In the very moment that Tobit returned from the courtyard to his house, Raguel's daughter Sarah came downstairs from her room."

We are - at least I am - fascinated by coincidence, the intersection of seemingly unrelated events in a manner that adds meaning to each.

The author of Tobit shares my fascination.

Carl Jung developed a theory of Synchronicity or meaningful coincidence. For Jung the coincidental can be an instance of our inner and outer selves being integrated.

For Jung coincidence is often present, but seldom perceived.

At that very time, the prayer of these two suppliants was heard in the glorious presence of Almighty God. So Raphael was sent to heal them both: to remove the cataracts from Tobit's eyes, so that he might again see God's sunlight; and to marry Raguel's daughter Sarah to Tobit's son Tobiah, and then drive the wicked demon Asmodeus from her. For Tobiah had the right to claim her before any other who might wish to marry her. In the very moment that Tobit returned from the courtyard to his house, Raguel's daughter Sarah came downstairs from her room. (Tobit 3:16-17)

A few months ago I heard about a survey regarding the efficacy of prayer. Participants who believed in God were asked, "Does God answer prayer?" Some significant minority responded in the negative.

When the researchers followed-up they found that most of those responding in the negative were especially troubled by the prospect of hundreds of millions - even billions - of simultaneous prayers.

I don't remember what I was listening to, but this led to an interesting discussion on the nature of quantum mechanics, zen notions of the now, and God being outside time. Probably not American Family Radio.

In Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis writes, "But suppose God is outside and above the Time-line. In that case what we call 'tomorrow' is visible to Him in just the same way as what we call 'today'. All the days are 'Now' for Him. He does not remember you doing things yesterday; He simply sees you doing them, because though you have lost yesterday; He has not. He does not 'foresee' you doing things tomorrow; He simply sees you doing them: because, though tomorrow is not yet there for you, it is for Him."

Tobit and Sarah are joined in God's now. Despite their prideful and narrow prayers, God hears and responds. The archangel Raphael, meaning God Heals, is sent to bind their wounds and to bring together those in need.

Above is the Archangel Raphael from the monastery at Balsmao (Portugal)

At that time, then, she spread out her hands, and facing the window, poured out this prayer: "Blessed are you, O Lord, merciful God! Forever blessed and honored is your holy name; may all your works forever bless you. And now, O Lord, to you I turn my face and raise my eyes. Bid me to depart from the earth, never again to hear such insults. "You know, O Master, that I am innocent of any impure act with a man, And that I have never defiled my own name or my father's name in the land of my exile. "I am my father's only daughter, and he has no other child to make his heir, Nor does he have a close kinsman or other relative whom I might bide my time to marry. I have already lost seven husbands; why then should I live any longer? But if it please you, Lord, not to slay me, look favorably upon me and have pity on me; never again let me hear these insults!" (Tobit 3: 11-15)

Sarah, like Tobit, turns to God in prayer. We know little of their prior prayers. Presumably each engaged in a daily discipline of ritual prayer. Each is apparently pushed outside the ritual by insults and damaged pride.

They are both fixated on an immediate source of hurt. That the insults might be a symptom of how they have abused their wife and maid is not considered. Their self-diagnosis excludes how their abusive behavior could be a symptom of a deeper condition.

Tobit and Sarah each come to God with their own solution. They could come to God to better understand their problems. But, like most of us, they are certain of their self-diagnosis and only want God's help with a solution they have already conceived.

The discipline of ritualized prayer kept both Tobit and Sarah connected with God. But the discipline tended - and still tends - to encourage our specific asking and much less listening. It is better to come to God in dialogue rather than with demands.

Where is the discipline that might take us from external effect to internal cause? How do we open ourselves to God's understanding? How do we pray with our listening as well as our asking? How do we put aside our pride and engage God in conversation?

That day she was deeply grieved in spirit. She went in tears to an upstairs room in her father's house with the intention of hanging herself. But she reconsidered, saying to herself: "No! People would level this insult against my father: 'You had only one beloved daughter, but she hanged herself because of ill fortune!' And thus would I cause my father in his old age to go down to the nether world laden with sorrow. It is far better for me not to hang myself, but to beg the Lord to have me die, so that I need no longer live to hear such insults." (Tobit 3: 10)

The author gives us two unsympathetic characters, an embittered old man and a widow who beats her maids. We are, though, encouraged to empathize.

Each character has been the victim of cruel fate. Despite Tobit's admission of sin, he has almost certainly suffered beyond what he is due.

There is nothing in the story to suggest that Sarah's tragedy has its origin in her choices. The demon is external to her. She is stung by the - unfair - accusations of the maid. In considering suicide she is constrained by devotion to her father.

But the sense of oppression has become so keen as to prefer death. In my early 20s I also seriously considered suicide. In my case the cause was a deep sense of separation from others and self-alienation. There was only being alone.

A similar sense of separation afflicts Tobit and Sarah. But for each, one positive connection remains. Both turn to God in prayer.

On the same day, at Ecbatana in Media, it so happened that Raguel's daughter Sarah also had to listen to abuse, from one of her father's maids. For she had been married to seven husbands, but the wicked demon Asmodeus killed them off before they could have intercourse with her, as it is prescribed for wives. So the maid said to her: "You are the one who strangles your husbands! Look at you! You have already been married seven times, but you have had no joy with any one of your husbands. Why do you beat us? Because your husbands are dead? Then why not join them! May we never see a son or daughter of yours!" (Tobit 3: 7-9)

The story shifts hundreds of miles to Medea in what is now Iran.

Sarah - like Tobit - is the subject of insults and abuse as a result of her sufferings. Evidently Sarah - like Tobit - is angry: she beats her maids.

Asmodeus enters Jewish demonology during the exile. He is probably of Persian provenance.

In the Testament of Solomon, the creature explains, "I am called Asmodeus among mortals, and my business is to plot against the newly wedded, so that they may not know one another. And I sever them utterly by many calamities; and I waste away the beauty of virgins and estrange their hearts. . . . I transport men into fits of madness and desire when they have wives of their own, so that they leave them and go off by night and day to others that belong to other men; with the result that they commit sin and fall into murderous deeds."

The Talmud includes other stories of Asmodeus.

Above is Sarah awaiting Tobias by Rembrandt. (A portrait of Rembrandt's common law wife Hendrickje)

So now, deal with me as you please, and command my life breath to be taken from me, that I may go from the face of the earth into dust. It is better for me to die than to live, because I have heard insulting calumnies, and I am overwhelmed with grief. "Lord, command me to be delivered from such anguish; let me go to the everlasting abode; Lord, refuse me not. For it is better for me to die than to endure so much misery in life, and to hear these insults!" (Tobit 3:6)

There is an echo of Jonah in Tobit's prayer. After God had forgiven the Ninevites Jonah also offered, "Now Lord, please take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live." (Jonah 4:3)

To which God responds, "Have you a reason to be angry?"

Jonah was resentful of God's mercy on his enemies. Tobit is resentful of his wife and angry at her retort. Is he resentful of God?

In the prior verse Tobit prayed, "Your judgments are many and true in dealing with me as my sins and those of my fathers deserve." Does Tobit's death-wish suggest he believes this or is this just passive aggressive piety?

God might well have asked both Jonah and Tobit, "Have you a good reason to be angry?"

In every life there is cause for grief. The spiritual challenge of grief is our ability to engage it and to move on from it. Tobit has better cause for grief than did Jonah. But Tobit's embrace of grief has become an idolatry that separates him from those who love him, including God.

God joins us in our anguish. God's love and creativity also shows us the way beyond our grief.

Grief-stricken in spirit, I groaned and wept aloud. Then with sobs I began to pray: "You are righteous, O Lord, and all your deeds are just; All your ways are mercy and truth; you are the judge of the world. And now, O Lord, may you be mindful of me, and look with favor upon me. Punish me not for my sins, nor for my inadvertent offenses, nor for those of my fathers. "They sinned against you, and disobeyed your commandments. So you handed us over to plundering, exile, and death, till we were an object lesson, a byword, a reproach in all the nations among whom you scattered us. "Yes, your judgments are many and true in dealing with me as my sins and those of my fathers deserve. For we have not kept your commandments, nor have we trodden the paths of truth before you. (Tobit 3: 1-5)

Tobit perceives he is being punished by God. He is familiar with the history of his people and the teachings of the prophets. Tobit knows that his people have often failed to keep faith. He has read and heard the prophets' explanation that suffering is a form of divine correction and even an object-lesson for others.

Tobit is aware of his own sinfulness. He is conscious that even inadvertently we can be a source of hurt. Torah includes 613 divine commands. It is difficult - perhaps impossible - to consistently observe each and all. Only a modicum of self-awareness is needed to realize that most of us have failed and can benefit from correction.

Tobit has been exiled to Nineveh. He has been forced into hiding. His career as a trader has collapsed due to forces far beyond his control. He has lost everything except wife and son. He has been blinded. Surely he is being punished. Tobit does not doubt he deserves punishment. Tobit is confident he knows the will of God and it is God's will to punish him.

Even in our secular age I know many who are certain they know what is real. They are certain of their situation, their possibilities, and their destination. Some are sure of success. Others are sure they will not succeed. Each has their own definition of success. Most are trapped inside their own heads.

Too often I am also trapped. Too often I do not really look and listen. Too often I do not engage the external reality that is all about me. Instead I am performing a script I have rehearsed. I act as if I know beginning, middle, end, and meaning. This is either arrogance or delusion. Rather, the meaning is being made as I write my own story.

At that time my wife Anna worked for hire at weaving cloth, the kind of work women do. When she sent back the goods to their owners, they would pay her. Late in winter she finished the cloth and sent it back to the owners. They paid her the full salary, and also gave her a young goat for the table. On entering my house the goat began to bleat. I called to my wife and said: "Where did this goat come from? Perhaps it was stolen! Give it back to its owners; we have no right to eat stolen food!" But she said to me, "It was given to me as a bonus over and above my wages." Yet I would not believe her, and told her to give it back to its owners. I became very angry with her over this. So she retorted: "Where are your charitable deeds now? Where are your virtuous acts? See! Your true character is finally showing itself!" (Tobit 2: 11-14)

Tobit's resentment of Anna's bonus could have several sources. He may resent his dependence on her. He might resent her employer's appreciation of her work. He could resent being the recipient rather than the source of charity. Does Tobit resent Anna being rewarded while he is seemingly being punished?

Is Anna's angry retort a fair insight? The comment suggests that Tobit's prior behavior was merely a pious sham. In his resentment of her small success, she suggests, his piety is exposed as self-promoting and self-satisfying. Why is Tobit not ready to celebrate a modest blessing received in the midst of his troubles?

It is as likely that Tobit's prior behavior was authentically virtuous. But he had allowed these very virtues to define his self-identity and relationship with others... even his relationship with God. Tobit is trapped. He has been unwilling or unable to reach beyond his self-imposed limitations to the limitless possibilities of God.

Above is Anna, Tobit, and the Kid by Rembrandt.

That same night I bathed, and went to sleep next to the wall of my courtyard. Because of the heat I left my face uncovered. I did not know there were birds perched on the wall above me, till their warm droppings settled in my eyes, causing cataracts. I went to see some doctors for a cure, but the more they anointed my eyes with various salves, the worse the cataracts became, until I could see no more. For four years I was deprived of eyesight, and all my kinsmen were grieved at my condition. Ahiqar, however, took care of me for two years, until he left for Elymais. (Tobit 2: 9-10)

I have a cataract in my right eye. Given modern medicine I will eventually undergo surgery and, probably, the "white spots" (literal translation) Tobit also experienced will be removed.

Until then the cataract is an annoyance and a very reluctant blessing. My sight is constantly bleary, as if looking through a greasy smudge on my glasses. Depth perception is compromised. The sun's rays or an ongoing car's lights can suddenly blind me.

The cataract is a constant reminder that I am not in control. I do not, yet, give thanks for this reminder. But no prior condition or experience has been as effective in teaching me about dependence and vulnerability.

Many people of faith will say we are not in control. But most of us are constantly scrambling for as much control as possible. It is as if we are chasing after a mirage.

It would be so much better if our energies were focused on chasing after God. We cannot control, but in cooperation with God we can better understand and more fully engage whatever reality we encounter.

Tobiah went out to look for some poor kinsman of ours. When he returned he exclaimed, "Father!" I said to him, "What is it, son?" He answered, "Father, one of our people has been murdered! His body lies in the market place where he was just strangled!" I sprang to my feet, leaving the dinner untouched; and I carried the dead man from the street and put him in one of the rooms, so that I might bury him after sunset. Returning to my own quarters, I washed myself and ate my food in sorrow. I was reminded of the oracle pronounced by the prophet Amos against Bethel: "Your festivals shall be turned into mourning, And all your songs into lamentation." And I wept. Then at sunset I went out, dug a grave, and buried him. The neighbors mocked me, saying to one another: "Will this man never learn! Once before he was hunted down for execution because of this very thing; yet now that he has escaped, here he is again burying the dead!" (Tobit 2: 3-8)

Was Tobiah the first Israelite to see his kinsman in the market? Perhaps. Why did Tobiah bring back news of the murdered man, but it was left to Tobit to retrieve the body? Was Tobiah still too young to carry the weight?

Strangulation was not typical of official Assyrian executions. Tobiah calls the death a murder. In some ancient texts strangulation means being hung. One ancient Greek version of Tobit references a noose. Was the the kinsman lynched by a mob?

Mob action would help explain the disdain (and fear) that meets Tobit's unselfish act. Whether a victim of official or unofficial violence, the neighbors are certainly correct that caring for a victim might attract violent attention.

There are always good reasons for not doing right. We may not know of what needs to be done. Or if we know, it may be a physical impossibility. To do right is often a risk. I can often think myself into uncertainty regarding what is right.

But Tobit sprang to his feet. Tobit immediately took action. He was not foolish, waiting until after sundown to accomplish the burial. But he was courageous and confident in taking immediate action to achieve what was right.

Thus under King Esarhaddon I returned to my home, and my wife Anna and my son Tobiah were restored to me. Then on our festival of Pentecost, the feast of Weeks, a fine dinner was prepared for me, and I reclined to eat. The table was set for me, and when many different dishes were placed before me, I said to my son Tobiah: "My son, go out and try to find a poor man from among our kinsmen exiled here in Nineveh. If he is a sincere worshiper of God, bring him back with you, so that he can share this meal with me. Indeed, son, I shall wait for you to come back." (Tobit 2:1-2)

The fiftieth day after Passover is still celebrated as Shavuot. It is a festival of first fruits, especially barley and wheat. In Leviticus instructions are given that "two loaves of bread made of two tenths of an epha of fine flour and baked with leaven" be presented at the Temple.

As the first fruits are presented to the priest, the man making the sacrifice is to say, "'I told God that I came into the land that God swore to our ancestors to give us." In this way the story of Exodus is recalled and the divine promise affirmed.

Shavuot was an agricultural festival centered at the Jerusalem temple. Tobit is exiled far from the Temple. He is an urban trader, not a farmer. It is a festival focused on inheriting a promised land that has now been lost.

But Tobit and his family work to remember - and renew - the sacred calendar. Deuteronomy instructs that during Shavuot "You shall rejoice in all the good that God has given you and to your house, you and the Levite and the stranger that is in the midst of you."

To the original readers of the story Tobit sending his son out to find a stranger would not be a spontaneous act, but an example of knowing the law and spiritual discipline. The essence of the liturgy is to give thanks by sharing whatever we have with others.

Above is a medieval illumination showing the Shavuot procession to the Jerusalem Temple.

But less than forty days later the king was assassinated by two of his sons, who then escaped into the mountains of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon, who succeeded him as king, placed Ahiqar, my brother Anael's son, in charge of all the accounts of his kingdom, so that he took control over the entire administration. Then Ahiqar interceded on my behalf, and I was able to return to Nineveh. For under Sennacherib, king of Assyria, Ahiqar had been chief cupbearer, keeper of the seal, administrator, and treasurer; and Esarhaddon reappointed him. He was a close relative-in fact, my nephew. (Tobit 1: 21-22)

The assassination of Sennacherib by his sons in 681BC is historically documented. Esarhaddon was the youngest son and ascended to the throne after a period of exile and internal conflict.

The prominence of Tobit's nephew, Ahiqar, reminds us of Joseph in Egypt or Daniel in Babylon, despite exile and oppression they achieve prestige and power.

Ahiqar was a well-known character in a prolific collection of legends and stories across many Middle Eastern cultures. He is often portrayed as a wise and good man who is betrayed by one who he has loved.

Ahiqar is betrayed, Daniel is thrown in the Lion's den, and the descendants of Joseph are made into slaves. But this is not the whole story.

Success and failure, joy and sadness, loyalty and betrayal what - if anything - are we to discern from the contradictory conditions we encounter?

But a certain citizen of Nineveh informed the king that it was I who buried the dead. When I found out that the king knew all about me and wanted to put me to death, I went into hiding; then in my fear I took to flight. Afterward, all my property was confiscated; I was left with nothing. All that I had was taken to the king's palace, except for my wife Anna and my son Tobiah. (Tobit 1: 19-20)

Doing what is right can be risky. Seeking to know and do what God intends can be perceived by others as contentious.

To bury the dead is, in nearly every culture, a fundamental act of respect. When those in power - or seeking power - wish dehumanize enemies and terrorize potential adversaries they have often done so through public display of those executed.

This was one of the purposes of crucifixion.

Through stealth and cunning Tobit sought to do right and manage the personal risk. Wise as a fox, Jesus might say. But it is difficult to remove dead bodies from a public place in a great city and not be observed.

Tobit took a righteous risk and paid a material consequence.

During Shalmaneser's reign I performed many charitable works for my kinsmen and my people. I would give my bread to the hungry and my clothing to the naked. If I saw one of my people who had died and been thrown outside the walls of Nineveh, I would bury him. I also buried anyone whom Sennacherib slew when he returned as a fugitive from Judea during the days of judgment decreed against him by the heavenly King because of the blasphemies he had uttered. In his rage he killed many Israelites, but I used to take their bodies by stealth and bury them; so when Sennacherib looked for them, he could not find them. (Tobit 1: 16-18)

Sennacherib ruled Assyria from 705-681BC. In 689BC responding to Egyptian expansionism the Assyrians swept into Judah, conquered many cities, and put Jerusalem under siege.

In II Kings 18 it says that King Hezekiah of Judah "rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him." The book of Kings goes on to detail the blasphemies by three Assyrian ambassadors to Jerusalem referenced above. (See II Kings 18: 17-37)

According to Judean sources the siege of Jerusalem was lifted when angels intervened with plague. Assyrian sources record a great victory against King Hezekiah. Some modern historians accommodate both accounts by suggesting undefeated Assyrian forces were redeployed from Jerusalem to deal with a revolt in Babylon.

Scripture depicts King Hezekiah of Judah as a good king and a profoundly religious man. II Kings writes of Hezekiah, "He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him." Yet Hezekiah experienced invasion, conquest, humiliation, personal illness, and much more.

Tobit observes the religious laws, cares for the weak, and even risks his personal safety to care for the dead. What will happen to him?

Above is a relief showing Sennacherib (left) with his father Sargon II.

Because of this wholehearted service of God, the Most High granted me favor and status with Shalmaneser, so that I became purchasing agent for all his needs. Every now and then until his death I would go to Media to buy goods for him. I also deposited several pouches containing a great sum of money with my kinsman Gabael, son of Gabri, who lived at Rages, in Media. But when Shalmaneser died and his son Sennacherib succeeded him as king, the roads to Media became unsafe, so I could no longer go there. (Tobit 1: 12-15)

Galilee was conquered by Tiglath-pileser III in the early 730s BC. This is roughly when Tobit and other Naphtali would have been exiled into Assyrian domains. Shalmaneser V, son of Tiglath-pileser, ascended the throne in 727 and died in 722BC during or shortly after the final conquest of Israel. All of this can be seen as agreeing with Tobit's narrative.

Sargon II reigned for nearly two decades between Shalmaneser and Sennacherib who was the son of Sargon, not Shalmaneser. This historical inaccuracy reflects the curious absence of Sargon - one of the greatest Assyrian rulers - from Judean historical records. In scripture there is only one quick reference to Sargon in the book of Isaiah.

The historical record does confirm that the period following the death of Shalmaneser was one of considerable turmoil during which the the roads between Nineveh (North Central Iraq) and Medea (Northwestern Iran) would have been unsafe. Assyrian control of this region was reasserted by Sargon around 715BC. So we can roughly situate Tobit's story as taking place between, perhaps, 732BC and the middle of the next century.

But Tobit is not primarily a piece of history. It is a very human narrative exploring religious themes in a historical context. The first verse above sets out one of the most important religious themes: Because Tobit was wholehearted God granted him favor and status. Our material condition reflects our spiritual condition. It is a kind of proto-Calvinism, as Calvinism is widely understood if not as Calvin himself intended.

As noted on the first day, this is my first complete reading of Tobit. But from gleanings and some criticism I perceive the symmetry of spiritual and material condition may be one of the principal themes of the narrative. It seems to me this theme reflects the most common religious attitude of my time and probably most times.

I approach this theme with great skepticism. I begin with a strong notion that the expectation of spiritual and material symmetry is misguided. I blame this common (mis)understanding for unnecessarily complicating the relationship of God with many seekers and believers. I perceive it is, in fact, too often the very source of alienation from God.

The third tithe I gave to orphans and widows, and to converts who were living with the Israelites. Every third year I would bring them this offering, and we ate it in keeping with the decree of the Mosaic law and the commands of Deborah, the mother of my father Tobiel; for when my father died, he left me an orphan. When I reached manhood, I married Anna, a woman of our own lineage. By her I had a son whom I named Tobiah. Now, after I had been deported to Nineveh, all my brothers and relatives ate the food of heathens, but I refrained from eating that kind of food. (Tobit 1: 8-11)

While in Israel Tobit did not join his neighbors in rejecting the Temple. After exile to Nineveh Tobit did not join his neighbors in bending the laws of Moses.

Tobit was scrupulous in giving thanks to God by giving. As an orphan himself, Tobit was especially attentive to the third tithe (Deuteronomy 14:28-29) by which widows, orphans, strangers and Levites were supported.

Tobit was a righteous man. Even more he was wholehearted. He was fully integrated. Tobit had integrity. He manifested consistency of belief, attitude, and behavior. He was coherent. He was not doubleminded, often offered as a critique by Jesus.

The book of James discusses the doubleminded as "unstable in all his ways." Tobit was swept up in a whirlwind, yet remained upright. Tobit was steady. He was one of a remnant through whom God could work to heal the world.

Tobit was orphaned. He was exiled. He would face other great challenges. Yet Tobit remained wholehearted in his relationship with God. Will this story tell us how?

I, for my part, would often make the pilgrimage alone to Jerusalem for the festivals, as is prescribed for all Israel by perpetual decree. Bringing with me the first fruits of the field and the firstlings of the flock, together with a tenth of my income and the first shearings of the sheep, I would hasten to Jerusalem and present them to the priests, Aaron's sons, at the altar. To the Levites who were doing service in Jeusalem I would give the tithe of grain, wine, olive oil, pomegranates, figs, and other fruits. And except for sabbatical years, I used to give a second tithe in money, which each year I would go and disburse in Jerusalem. (Tobit 1: 6-7)

Despite living in far-off Galilee, despite the political preference given the sanctuaries at Dan and Bethel, despite the religious practice of his family, friends, and neighbors Tobit held firm to the Jerusalem temple.

David had almost certainly chosen Jerusalem as his capital and the site of the temple because it was not traditionally associated with any of the twelve tribes. Jerusalem became the symbolic heart of a unified nation and common faith.

The rejection of Solomon's temple, no doubt politically motivated, can also be seen as a conservative religious reform. Rather than the new temple in Jerusalem the older sacred sites across the Northern Kingdom were restored.

The local sacred sites were historically meaningful, more receptive to local sensibilities, and much more convenient. But for reasons that are not explained - yet seemed clear enough to the first readers - Tobit chose Jerusalem.

Unity is uncommon, especially in matters of politics and religion. Tradition and tribe are strong draws. Joining with others -especially those perceived as "other" - requires a vision, love, and discipline that transcends our natural reflexes.

Above is Tobit and Anna by Barent Fabritius.

I, Tobit, have walked all the days of my life on the paths of truth and righteousness. I performed many charitable works for my kinsmen and my people who had been deported with me to Nineveh, in Assyria. When I lived as a young man in my own country, Israel, the entire tribe of my forefather Naphtali had broken away from the house of David and from Jerusalem. This city had been singled out of all Israel's tribes, so that they all might offer sacrifice in the place where the temple, God's dwelling, had been built and consecrated for all generations to come. All my kinsmen, like the rest of the tribe of my forefather Naphtali, used to offer sacrifice on all the mountains of Galilee as well as to the young bull which Jeroboam, king of Israel, had made in Dan. (Tobit1: 3-5)

Tobit was almost certainly written for a Jerusalem audience five centuries after the events being described. Tobit's tribe, the Naphtali, was one of the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom that separated from Jerusalem in the 930s BC.

The original cause for the division of the united monarchy of David and Solomon was a tax revolt. But the Northern Kingdom soon set out to establish an independent religious tradition. On a high mountain at Dan, in the far north, King Jeroboam of Israel (roughly 930-910 BC) had crafted a Throne of God featuring a gold bull. But over the generations the distinction was lost between honoring the Throne and worshiping the gold bull.

From the perspective of Jerusalem the northern religious tradition became merely idolatrous. It is important to the author that Tobit be born into and surrounded by idolatry. An idolatry that most in Jerusalem perceived resulted in the exile to Nineveh.

This book tells the story of Tobit, son of Tobiel, son of Hananiel, son of Aduel, son of Gabael of the family of Asiel, of the tribe of Naphtali, who during the reign of Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, was taken captive from Thisbe, which is south of Kedesh Naphtali in upper Galilee, above and to the west of Asser, north of Phogor. (Tobit 1:1-2)

The night before my marriage, for the first time, I read pieces of the Book of Tobit. I have not read it in the twenty-six years since.

The story of Tobit is part of the Septuagint. But it was not included in the Jewish canon formulated following the destruction of Herod's temple. Tobit was accepted as canonical by the Council of Carthage (397 AD) and the Council of Trent (1546 AD). But most Protestants have excluded it from accepted scripture. Anglicans treat Tobit as a good "example of life and instruction of manners," but not as a source of doctrine.

The book is believed to have been written in the third century BC probably in Aramaic. The setting for the book is the eighth century BC following the exile of the Northern Kingdom to Assyria.