The Winds and the Seas are Raging

In the Gospel today, Jesus is in a boat with the disciples, and a storm begins to rage. It is a story we know well. The disciples are afraid, and Jesus calms the waters. (MT 8:23-27)

Doesn’t it feel like we are in a boat named COVID 19? And, our boat is being tossed around in the sea of our country and our world? Often, we as a society and as individuals are overwhelmed. Every day the numbers of cases and the number of deaths increase. Each day’s news proclaims a new high. Every day there is no vaccine. 

Also, there are protests in the streets for civil rights for people of all colors, genders, and sexual orientations. Battles that were being fought in the streets 50 years ago continue to rage today. And we are arguing and fighting about whether or not we can be required to wear masks or is that a breach of civil liberties. 

The political scene more often than not resembles 5-year old’s squabbling and name-calling in the sandbox than adults trying to figure out what to do to make life better for our country and all the people. People are casting judgment on each other and defining one another’s intentions. 

If I say, Black Lives Matter, that must mean I don’t support law enforcement. If I support the police, it means I must also be a racist. We can’t seem to get on the page that says ALL lives matter.

Life is out of control. It is frightening, and we are literally and figuratively alone. We are exhausted from fighting the winds of isolation, fear, and anxiety. If there ever was an apt analogy for this passage from scripture, it is what we are experiencing now. 

The line in the passage that is unimaginable is the line that says Jesus was asleep in the boat. With the chaos and fear, the ship being tossed about by the winds, and the disciples calling out to each other to steady it. The Lord is asleep. He must have been a sound sleeper!

That too is apt. In the chaos we are experiencing now, the Lord may well seem to be asleep. If He were awake and with us, why would He leave us in this chaos, fearing our safety and our lives?

In the reading, the disciples go and wake the Lord and tell Him they are about to drown. They beg His help. I wonder if that is the step we are missing.

We all see the mess we are in, but we aren’t necessarily calling on the Lord with faith and confidence to help us fix it. Not that I expect a vast fog to fall over the land, and when it lifts, all of life will be sunshine and roses. But it is time for us to wake the Lord and let him know we are afraid, and we need His help. We need Him to help to calm the storm we are in now. We need to turn to Him with absolute unconditional faith and ask for help.

No, I do not think God will wave a magic wand and make everything better. But, I think if we collectively pray for the wisdom to do what is right for everyone and not just for ourselves, we will go a long way toward calming the storm. Together we must bang on the doors of heaven, asking God to come and infuse us with His Spirit so that we will know what to do and how to get through this mess together. 

If we can do that, imagine how much better the future will be. It won’t be Shangri-La without any problems or differences of opinion. It will be a world steeped in unity and respect even when we differ. It will be a place where harmony is the rule, and discord is the exception. It will be a place where the winds of anxiety calm and peace reigns in our hearts. 

Please join me in prayer to wake Jesus and let Him know we need Him now and that we are willing to listen to His words of wisdom. Jesus can show us the way, but we have to do the work to make a peace-filled world happen.

In God’s Unending Love,

Gwen