Meanwhile, day by day, Tobit was keeping track of the time Tobiah would need to go and to return. When the number of days was reached and his son did not appear, he said, "I wonder what has happened. Perhaps he has been detained there; or perhaps Gabael is dead, and there is no one to give him the money." And he began to worry. His wife Anna said, "My son has perished and is no longer among the living!" And she began to weep aloud and to wail over her son: "Alas, my child, light of my eyes, that I let you make this journey!" But Tobit kept telling her: "Hush, do not think about it, my love; he is safe! Probably they have to take care of some unexpected business there. The man who is traveling with him is trustworthy, and is one of our own kinsmen. So do not worry over him, my love. He will be here soon." (Tobit 10:1-6)

By the grace of God and their son's stalwart actions Tobit's and Anna's lives are about to be transformed. But this unfolding is far away and beyond what they can know.

Their worry is not unreasonable. To not notice the delay or to blithely assume the best would be a sort of blindness. Recognizing risk is not unfaithful.

Assuming the worst when we cannot know is usually unhelpful and can be unfaithful.

Tobiah's success has been greatly advanced by his humility. He questions, he listens, he considers, and he undertakes what he can as he can.

We cannot be sure of tomorrow. But caring for others is helpful. Tobit's own worry is moderated in seeking to reassure Anna. Creative and courageous choices can be acts of faith.

"What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make and end is to make a beginning," Eliot wrote.

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.

Quick now, here, now, always—
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.

The entire poem Little Gidding by T.S. Eliot is available here. "All shall be well and All manner of thing shall be well" is a quotation from Julian of Norwich.