Jesus rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” From today’s Gospel, Luke 8:22-25.
‘Storms make the oak grow deeper roots.’ George Herbert.
Perhaps the best bit of advice I was given when I came to this valley eight years ago was to keep a good store cupboard as the weather here can be so unpredictable, causing damage and power cuts accordingly. Recently, some of the storms have been horrendous with winds strong enough to uproot trees and one power cut lasting 32 hours. A good store cupboard has been vital with being so far away from a supermarket and in case of blocked roads or landslides – tins of baked beans, canned tomatoes and a good torch or candles have been helpful with a camping stove and thermos flask now enabling hot food and drinks until the power returns. Being ready in case a storm springs up means that, like my neighbours, I can be prepared for various possibilities.
That’s why what happens in today’s Gospel is so surprising. Jesus is in a boat with his disciples and he wants them to go to the other side of the lake. The Sea of Galilee is 13 miles long and 8 miles wide with surrounding hills which act like a funnel – violent storms can very quickly spring up. However, amongst the disciples are experienced fishermen who would know of this possibility and could also be prepared for it. Yet, when the wind picks up, the boat starts to fill with water and it gets dangerous, it doesn’t seem as if anyone is taking control. No orders are given to overcome the situation and, instead, the disciples go to their exhausted leader who is asleep in the boat despite the storm and shout at him that they are perishing. When Jesus takes action and calm results he holds the Creator and the created together, causing the disciples to ask one another, “Who is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?”
This Creation Sunday, it’s a reminder to us that, like those first disciples, we can also face sudden or unexpected storms as well as joys too. Just as Jesus calmed the storm and fear of those first disciples, the same can be true for us, too, although we may also feel that nothing is happening as quickly as we want it to. Jesus chides the disciples for their lack of faith and perhaps the same is true for us as we consider the stormy waters being faced with so many issues in our lives and world today.
Perhaps it may be appropriate to consider the words of Grover Cleveland who in turbulent times suggested that, “The ship of democracy, which has weathered all storms, may sink through the mutiny of those on board.” His words seem appropriate today with recent national and international developments – but Grover Cleveland was the 22nd President of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and the 24th President from 1893 to 1897. He was as concerned about democracy then as some are now and if stormy waters were creating mutiny then, perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised that this is still happening today.
Where, then, is our faith as we also ponder who Jesus is and what storms we and the created world in which we live are facing? Are we prepared for them and will we take action or do we expect Jesus to come to our rescue while we just panic like those first disciples? What is being created in our lives this Creation Sunday?
With my prayers; pob bendith,
Christine, Priest Guardian.