That’s Fast    I set out on a quest for a needed item. I searched the local merchants, not available. I stopped at every likely store for forty miles, not available. Then I turned to that modern cornucopia, Google, and found the item listed in Walmart’s inventory, but no local store stocked the item. I checked the item’s availability, and Walmart promised to have the item at my door within two days. I placed the order, and it arrived two days later. That’s fast.    One evening recently, Alice and I discussed our dinner plans. We didn’t want to go out. This early December, Northeast Georgia is in the grip of a cold spell. Neither of us felt like cooking, so I went to the freezer, and there was a frozen dinner, but it would take four minutes in the microwave—four long minutes. So we decided on another meal that only took two minutes. That’s fast.    In St. Mark’s record of Jesus’ first preaching and teaching itinerary through Galilee, he highlighted one incident where a man suffering from leprosy broke custom by approaching Jesus asking for cleansing, if Jesus was willing. There’s no record of the man’s background, family, prior social status, or how he came to know about Jesus. He was ostracized from society. Mark said that Jesus had compassion on the man, reached out to touch him, and commanded the disease to be gone. “And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.” (1:42) “Immediately (euthys)” is one of Mark’s favorite words; it appears 41 times in his gospel. There was no washing in water or application of a poultice—immediately the malady disappeared. That’s fast.    All three Synoptic Gospels say that the man was cleansed, not healed, which is a different word. The word “cleansed” used by these writers is more comprehensive, not only was this man’s physical need met, but immediately his emotional, spiritual, and social needs were met. That’s fast. Directory