On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’
Mark 4:35-41
For quite a long time, I've loved this passage from Mark. As I read the story, it's not really about the miracle of Jesus calming the wind and the sea, but rather about Jesus calming the storm inside me - an entirely different miracle, but a wonder nontheless.
My prayer, "Lord, do you not care that I am perishing?" Then comes the soothing, calming answer, "Peace! Be still!...Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?"
At times, I still have no faith, or not enough faith. But all it takes is faith the size of a mustard seed to move forward. "Peace! Be still!...Why are you afraid?"
Gene Robinson has a piece of calligraphy in his office that says:
ReplyDelete“Sometimes God calms the storm. And sometimes God lets the storm rage and calms his child.
Ann, that's good. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWas that the Episcopal lectionary choice for today? We use the RCL and it was the parable of the mustard seed.'
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, it was. Our rector uses the RCL sometimes. He picks and chooses.
ReplyDeleteIf you thought Katrina was bad, just wait for David!!
ReplyDeleteDavid G. Love your icon! She was on Mr. Peepers, right? "Um, well, um, I don't know, It might very well be...."
ReplyDeleteDavid, thanks for the warning. There's no storm named David this year. Or, do you refer to something else?
ReplyDeleteYes, your icon is wonderful. Dear Marion Lorne. What a cast of talented actors on that show!
Way back when I was (at least) younger if not young, I had moved from my "home" in Boston to Albuquerque, NM. I got a call from my father to tell me that my mother was in the hospital with an aneyurism. I didn't know WTF to do or think. I guess it was revealed to me (how "embarrassing" for a non-evangelical to use that term) that I could/should pray for freedom from fear for my parents for me and my sister. (well -- I have to admit that I forgot to include my sister)
ReplyDeleteAnd I still know that it is absolutely appropriate to pray for freedom from fear for myself and others. I am otherwise unclear about what I should pray for.