To The Sea

Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” But he sternly ordered them not to make him known. He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot. Mark 3:7-19a

Wondrous Creator who made the seas

with the always changing tides

the terrific storms and thundering waves

the source of all life and renewal.

You called your disciples by the sea

on a mountain overlooking the crowds

the people in such great pain and need

they would leave home to seek you out.

Gentle and tempestuous are the oceans

reminding us of our lives and work

ever changing, churning and moving

you call us to this life of service too.

Let us be ready for the roar and the calm

help us be strong in the storms ahead

give us your strength to answer the need

let us bear your love to this world now. Amen.