We read in today's Gospel (Mk 6: 17-29) that Herod was "very much perplexed" when he heard John the Baptist speak, but liked to listen to him anyway. Herod, the very-worldly, puppet king installed by the Romans to help govern the conquered Jews, was "perplexed" by John the Baptist. Isn't that interesting? Why in the world would Herod even care what John the Baptist says, let alone be perplexed? John was preaching a message of change of heart, of repentance, of a return to God. One would think Herod would be the last person in the world to care about that-- he had things pretty good, after all, and didn't seem to be terribly self-aware. Yet he was "perplexed." And that is a good thing. Being perplexed means that his brain was engaged. He was thinking about what John the Baptist was saying and trying to understand it. He didn't just laugh John off as some crazy, animal-skin wearing nut. It is too bad that Herod let his ego get in the way, making a foolish boast that he then had to honor by having John's head chopped off. Had he not done that, Herod's puzzling over what John was saying might actually have led somewhere, might even have impacted him, changed him. We're all perplexed (or worse) from time to time when we reflect on our lives and try to make sense of how God is working in us. Things don't make sense to us. We can't see God's hand at work. Why do these things happen, we ask, in the face of terrible tragedies. It would be a problem if we didn't have that reaction. If we didn't feel perplexed, that would mean that we didn't care to understand what we were experiencing, and ultimately that we didn't care about, or even believe in, God. Being perplexed means that the Holy Spirit is working in you. It means that in your humanity you're struggling to connect with God's divinity. It means you have faith, at least at some level. So when you're perplexed, just sit with it. Maybe things will make sense at some point. Or maybe you're dealing with a mystery that is simply beyond our human capacity. Just don't let your ego get in the way. Look what that did to Herod.