Sometimes there are places where things just seem to be off, where there is a certain darkness or sense of unhappiness. There is something in the air, or the wind, or the way people carry themselves as they walk around, that gives off this hint that things aren't right. Maybe that's what was going on in the village of Bethsaida in today's Gospel (Mk 8: 22-26). Jesus arrives there and people bring Him a blind man who needs healing. The first thing Jesus does is take the man "by the hand and lead him outside of the village." Why do that? Maybe to get away from the crowd, although Mark doesn't say that's the reason and the crowd could easily have followed Jesus and the blind man. Next something really interesting happens. Jesus tries to heal the man, and it doesn't quite work. The man's sight is partially restored, but he says that he sees "people looking like trees and walking." How odd! His sight is there, but somehow off, out of proportion. Jesus has to lay hands on the blind man a second time to get his sight fully restored, and, when that happens, Jesus directs the formerly-blind man to go home and specifically not to go back into the village. So was there something about the village that was behind this strange need for Jesus to have two tries at this healing? Was it like the situation at Nazareth where He could not work many miracles because the people did not have faith in Him? We don't know, if course. But this event, and the situation in Nazareth, seem like the only times in the Gospels when Jesus' power to work miracles is somehow compromised. Perhaps that might make us realize how important "place" is-- that there are some places that are holy, or more conducive to holiness, and other places that are "off," or somehow dark. We are embodied souls, and the places in which our bodies find themselves make a difference. We might strive to spend more time in places that seem "right" and "holy" to us. Where we are matters.