When Tobiah left Raguel, he was full of happiness and joy, and he blessed the Lord of heaven and earth, the King of all, for making his journey so successful. Finally he said good-bye to Raguel and his wife Edna, and added, "May I honor you all the days of my life!" (Tobit 10:14)

God inspired Tobit to set out the journey. God sent Raphael to help Tobiah and bring him to Sarah. God's intent for the journey went far beyond what Tobit or Tobiah expected.

Another translation reads, "... praising the Lord of Heaven and Earth, King over all, because he had made his journey a success."

The ambiguous pronoun is appropriate. Without God there would have been no journey. Without God's guidance Tobiah would never have encountered Sarah.

But Tobiah was also involved in the making. He chose to listen. He chose obedience to his father. He chose to follow Rapahel's counsel. Tobiah took action.

Tobiah is not aware of God's very specific involvement in the journey. But Tobiah is mindful of his relationships. This provides God an opening.

In responding thoughtfully and ethically to his father, his friend, to Raguel, and to Sarah, Tobiah allows God to contribute to the journey.

Tobiah probably underestimates the involvement of God. But he gives thanks to God and deals honorably with others. With just this much God can do a great deal.

Above is Tobiah on his journey from a medieval manuscript.

Then Edna said to Tobiah: "My child and beloved kinsman, may the Lord bring you back safely, and may I live long enough to see children of you and of my daughter Sarah before I die. Before the Lord, I entrust my daughter to your care. Never cause her grief at any time in your life. Go in peace, my child. From now on I am your mother, and Sarah is your beloved. May all of us be prosperous all the days of our lives." She kissed them both and sent them away in peace. (Tobit 10:13)

How do we let go? How do we shed what we love? How do we give away what we desire?

Gautama Buddha and St. John of the Cross, along with many others, teach that non-attachment is the way of Truth.

Edna is not detached. She communicates care, warmth, concern, and even acknowledges her desire for grandchildren.

But there is a graceful and gentle giving away or giving over. Both Raguel and Edna exemplify what some Hindus call vijinamaya.

St. John of the Cross says this peace can only be achieved through a total identification with God: "The soul that is attached to anything, however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union."

Or as William Blake wrote,

He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in Eternity's sunrise.

Raguel then promptly handed over to Tobiah Sarah his wife, together with half of all his property: male and female slaves, oxen and sheep, asses and camels, clothing, money, and household goods. Bidding them farewell, he let them go. He embraced Tobiah and said to him: "Good-bye, my son. Have a safe journey. May the Lord of heaven grant prosperity to you and to your wife Sarah. And may I see children of yours before I die!" Then he kissed his daughter Sarah and said to her: "My daughter, honor your father-in-law and your mother-in-law, because from now on they are as much your parents as the ones who brought you into the world. Go in peace, my daughter; let me hear good reports about you as long as I live." Finally he said good-bye to them and sent them away. (Tobit 10: 10-12)

When Tobiah politely insists Raguel readily defers.

He is giving away his only child and half of all his property, yet Raguel does so without further delay or obvious regret.

Raguel does not say, "visit soon." Rather he says "let me hear good reports about you." It was likely, he realized, that he would never see Sarah again.

Adam and Eve, Jesus, Francis of Assisi and many others have shown us the power of handing over, giving away, and freely sharing.

Too often what I have received as a gift I treat as if I have earned.

Now at the end of the fourteen-day wedding celebration which Raguel had sworn to hold for his daughter, Tobiah went to him and said: "Please let me go, for I know that my father and mother do not believe they will ever see me again. So I beg you, father, let me go back to my father. I have already told you how I left him." Raguel said to Tobiah: "Stay, my child, stay with me. I am sending messengers to your father Tobit, and they will give him news of you." But Tobiah insisted, "No, I beg you to let me go back to my father." (Tobit 10:7-9)

There are philosophers who argue time is an illusion. There is much in this story to suggest that, at the very least, our sense of time-passing is different than that of God.

Tobit and Sarah are each in pain. They pray for relief. God responds. But God responds with an elaborate scheme that requires considerable time.

Tobiah is more sensitive to a human sense of time. Tobiah has allowed Raguel to fulfill his oath. Tobiah now feels an urgency to return to his father and mother.

I can readily accept that God is beyond time. Does this complicate God's ability to empathize with our sense of urgency? Perhaps.

Even more likely, it seems to me, is a difference between human and divine priorities. We are often distracted by what we perceive is urgent. God is attentive to what is important.

We seek definition: beginning and end, yes and no, black and white. Why would an infinite God place much value in such limitations?

The evidence suggests God gives greater priority to unfolding relationships, emergent meaning, a continuum of experience unconstrained by time.

Above is the Wedding Feast at Cana by Gerard David.

But she retorted, "Stop it, and do not lie to me! My child has perished!" She would go out and keep watch all day at the road her son had taken, and she ate nothing. At sunset she would go back home to wail and cry the whole night through, getting no sleep at all. (Tobit 10: 7)

Too often I worry as did Anna. I assume the worst. Despite having no clear evidence of the worst, I decide all is lost.

But then I continue to look for evidence to contradict the worst. I keep watch for my own definition of success.

I am torn between my wants and my worries.

It would be healthier and more helpful to acknowledge both wants and worry, but to put both aside to keep a true watch.

What can be discerned? What is beyond discernment? Reinhold Niebuhr prayed, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."

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.

So Raphael, together with the four servants and two camels, traveled to Rages in Media, where they stayed at Gabael's house. Raphael gave Gabael his bond and told him about Tobit's son Tobiah, and that he had married and was inviting him to the wedding celebration. Gabael promptly checked over the sealed moneybags, and they placed them on the camels. The following morning they got an early start and traveled to the wedding celebration. When they entered Raguel's house, they found Tobiah reclining at table. He sprang up and greeted Gabael, who wept and blessed him, exclaiming: "O noble and good child, son of a noble and good, upright and charitable man, may the Lord grant heavenly blessing to you and to your wife, and to your wife's father and mother. Blessed be God, because I have seen the very image of my cousin Tobit! (Tobit 9:5-6)

The task assigned to Tobiah has been achieved. Tobit's treasure is reclaimed from Gabael.

Tobiah's journey had its origin in his father's desperation. God heard Tobit's prayer for death. The prayer's answer is far beyond Tobit's expectation.

God also heard Sarah's prayer for death. Once again, God's response is beyond anything she could have conceived.

God's response has, however, depended on the courage and commitment of Tobiah. Raphael has inspired. But God's will has required Tobiah to act.

Tobiah is faithful to his father. Otherwise the journey simply unfolds and God's intent is accomplished as Tobiah deals with each encounter.

Above is Tobiah and Raphael by Andrea del Verrocchio.