Twice in the daily readings I am following in St Mark's gospel this week Jesus has done the 'calming the storm' thing.
The first time, he was asleep in the boat with the disciples, on a cushion - just imagine incuding that detail in the story - when a storm came up.
The second time, in Chapter 6, he had sent them on ahead in a boat, immediately after one of the Big Spontaneous Picnics with No Preplanned Catering events. (spoiler alert; I've noticed that he's going to do another of these mass meals in a few pages' time).
Jesus was hanging back to give himself some prayer time, but spotted them struggling to row in heavy dangerous seas. We all know the stories - he walks over (how fast can he walk?), they all think he's a ghost, but he calms them down, allays their fears, and climbs into the boat with them, calming things down, both the weather and the panics.
Reading that passage brought immense comfort to me this week - it was the bit where he spotted their distress, hot-footed it across the waves, and climbed into the boat with them for the rest of the journey.
Well, we're all in the same boat together for the rest of this covid19 journey. I'm really, really glad to have Jesus aboard with us.
May the peace of Christ keep everything calm, allay our fears, and surround us with peace.
Amen to this. The children sing in church "with Jesus in the boat we can smile at the storm". A little simplistic maybe, but the sentiment is good. He never promised our lives would be without stressful times, but that he would be with us through them.
ReplyDeleteYes!!!!!! I am very glad to have Jesus along with us!May he be with us in our distress to calm the journey!
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