WATCHWORD:
23 Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. 24 Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” 26 Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. 27 The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”
Meditation:
A poem by Haruki Murakami:
And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through,
how did you manage to survive. you won’t even be sure, in fact, that the storm is over.
But one thing is certain. when you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. that’s what the storm is all about.
And Jesus asks us, “Why are you afraid?” and we have no answer because, in our fragile-faith lives, we think it is obvious why we are afraid. As if to reinforce that thought, we look around us and, sure enough, there it is, cause to be afraid.
But Jesus said something else. Were we listening? Did we hear? He spoke to our storm, to our wind, and waves and fears. Peace, be still and know that I am God. And “there was a great calm.”
There is an app you can put on your phone called “Calm”. A simple site that sets the stage for you to relax and breathe. We could all benefit by a little of that “Calm” to clear our thinking and deepen our faith.
“Just breathe” is the caption on a shirt worn by my loved one. It is good advice, and it implies a peaceful awareness. We have heard a lot about breath and breathing these past several days. We were in the temple when the breath of God infilled us with the Holy Spirit, Pentecost. The tragedy and murder of George Floyd, “I can’t breathe” and the fumbling of justice, followed by protests and violence.
Our fear turns to outrage, and there are times when breathing seems labored. A psychologist would call that anxiety, and we are anxious.
And, yet, our Lord still asks us, “Why are you afraid?” And maybe, just maybe, you will say and do, “Alright, Lord, I’ll try it Your way, I’ll give it all to you.”
