Cana, or Not a Perfect Carpenter

"They have no wine."-- John 2:3 
"Like us in all things but sin."-- Hebrews 4:15 

It had to come from somewhere. Expectations 
have histories. Out of the blue one does 
not say, “They have no wine,” as though 
remarking on the gathering of the clouds, or how 
late the spring this year. Surely she knew 
before she came. Had he bent more 
than nails, as he hammered the oak plank, 
cut too short for the table top,

and turning to be sure the door was closed, 
had he, in a stolen moment, lengthen
it an inch or two, a quick 
impatient wonder to cover his mistake?

But through the lattice, had she seen, 
smiled and understood. Had she asked 
him to build a porch with beams from Lebanon, 
where she could catch the breeze, watch

the sun go down? Then as the hard 
wood rafters began to drop, 
did he twist the law of gravity, put 
a kink in the path of falling timbers?

And did she duck – and marvel?

-- Fr. Kilian McDonnell, OSB (1921- ), American monk, poet, and theologian at St. John's Abbey.

Relevant Scripture, John 2:1-11, 2nd after Epiphany C