Great Gales

 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

Great Gales

On calm summer evenings

the lighthouse ignored

still keeps her spinning watch

signaling across soft seas.

In great gales the light swings

over wretched towering waves

signaling land and safe harbor

to the terrified dying on the ocean.

The beacon continues to shine

when we are surely perishing

when we have forgotten her

even when we pretend ignorance.

Stormy seas are no match for gales

this holy love is vigilant and strong

protecting us when we are foolish

guiding us to the shores of home.