Storms on the Sea

On that day, when evening had come, Jesus 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 windstorm 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 

 I have been dreaming about storms on the ocean. These have been some stormy times for me. And yesterday, finding out my mother has another diagnosis to add to the pain of her already aching body, seemed like more than one can bear. Having lived my life by the ocean, I know what real storms are like and how dangerous they are to human (and all) life. I have been on a boat when a storm comes up. Getting to port, getting to shore is the only goal. And everyone on board is racked with fear. It is a very real feeling to consider God as being asleep in the stern careless to our perishing. 

The Gospel today reminds us that we are never alone, even in the worst of life's storm. God is truly with us and we are invited to be in dialogue with God in our daily fears, the big ones and the little ones, seeking through prayer a way beyond the crisis. God's strength and power are not limited like ours and Christ Jesus is not asleep at either the helm or the stern. God abides with each of us, tenderly riding along on good and bad seas.

Today  I ask God for peace within, Though I also would like the storms to subside I trust that there is already a way forward. May we offer our fears and anxieties to God this day, trusting that our safe harbor awaits and that God is moving us beyond these storms to a new and brilliant shore.