A stormy sea
My most enjoyable memories of time spent on any body of water is when, as a child, we lived beside the Avon and had a canoe that we took out often and paddled about on a familiar stretch of river. My least enjoyable memory is any time that I went to sea, whether or not there was a storm, as I am not a good sailor.
And so, I have empathy for the disciples who not only panicked when they were caught in a storm at sea, but who also had trouble understanding how Jesus could sleep through the whole drama. If they, who had fishermen among their number, were frightened, then it was a dramatic storm indeed.
Waking Jesus was the right thing to do; not only did he calm those raging waves, but he also taught the disciples that they could face any storm if they trusted in him.
The Church is often described as a boat, and the world with its’ hostile forces as the sea on which we must set out in order to fish for souls for the Kingdom of God. Sometimes the boat is our own lives, and the sea which tosses us about are the things that happen in our lives which at times seem capable of overwhelming us.
In neither case can God guarantee a smooth journey and a safe arrival. Better than that, God assures us of the companionship of Jesus in the boat so that no waves will overwhelm us but, rather, we come through to calmer waters and with renewed faith.
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