Stormy Sea ~ Yet I Can't Stop Singing

Sea of Galilee ~ Stormy indeed! 

As soon as it was over he made his disciples embark and cross to Bethsaida ahead of him, while he himself sent the people away. After taking leave of them, he went up the hill-side to pray. It grew late and the boat was already well out on the water, while he was alone on the land. Somewhere between three and six in the morning, seeing them labouring at the oars against a head-wind, he came towards them, walking on the lake. He was going to pass them by; but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw him and were terrified. But at once he spoke to them: "Take heart! It is I; do not be afraid." Then he climbed into the boat beside them, and the wind dropped. At this they were completely dumbfounded, for they had not understood the incident of the loaves; their minds were closed. Mark 6: 45-52

This gospel scene follows immediately after the account of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, (scroll down to January 5th, 2016).  Jesus has fed the crowds and they  pack things up quickly. Maybe he senses bad weather is coming. Or perhaps Jesus doesn't want to be associated with nationalistic things. Jesus and nationalism don't mix. Even Mass ends quickly after Holy Communion (how sad some folks won't wait that little bit). 

Then Jesus went up the hillside to pray. Going up a mountain or a hill always signifies an encounter with God. Prayer is the flight of the heart to God, Father Alexander Men said. The mountain then is ultimately an interior experience, isn't it?

Between three and six in the morning - a very dark time, but a new day is drawing near. Can you name that? The very dark time? And the disciples are wearying - labouring is the word. They're tired and really up against the odds. The Sea of Galilee can experience terrific storms as it's surrounded by mountains and hills that act as funnels for the wind! How frightening for them. Again - name it for yourself? I'll name it for the world: weary, terrified, exhausted, going under. 

And he spoke to them. Jesus doesn't give them a volume to read or deliver a lecture, but he speaks to their hearts, their fearful hearts. He even gets into the boat and sits down next to them - like a mother sitting on the bedside of a child suffering night terrors and bad dreams! Christ our mother, Saint Juliana says. And the wind drops. It'll be okay. We're known by God personally. It matters to God that we exist.

Their minds were closed. Not to say they were set against Jesus - but their minds were shut down, not being able to comprehend. This is beyond imagining. We limit God terribly or we can't handle God's surprises. Father Walsh, the founder of the American missionary community, Maryknoll, used to say to the newly ordained priests being sent around the world on Departure Day: "Remember, wherever you land, God was there long before you arrived." What a surprise to the zealous young man who thought he was going to a faraway place - even to pagans (such a condescending term) - and to have it announced, God is here already! 

Dallyn Vail Bayles sings the perfect hymn in response to this Gospel: How Can I Keep From Singing. Listen to the powerful lyrics which we will so easily identify in our own lives. The images that accompany the song are stunning. At the end - be silent. You may need some moments to recover anyway. 

First Faith ~ Jesus Calms the Wild Sea

Rembrandt ~ Jesus Calms the Stormy Sea

With the coming of evening that same day, Jesus said to his disciples, 'Let us cross over to the other side.' And leaving the crowd behind they took him, just as he was, in the boat, and there were other boats with him. Then a great hurricane wind began to blow, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost swamped. But Jesus was in the stern, his head on the the cushion, asleep. They woke  him and said to him, 'Master, do you not care? We are lost!'  And he woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, 'Silence, Be quiet!'  And the wind dropped, and there followed a great calm. Then he said to them, 'Why are you so frightened? Have you still no faith?' They were overcome with awe and said to one another. 'Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.' Mark 4:35-41

Sitting in a kind of basin, the Sea of Galilee is surrounded by mountainous terrain. And when cold air comes over the hills and meets the warm air coming off the water, terrific storms can form quickly. So picture a little armada of boats in the evening time. Jesus (who is sleeping) and some disciples are in one of those boats. 

Or maybe Jesus was just pretending to be asleep to test the faith of the disciples. Jesus is always trying to draw faith out of us. So they wake Jesus who is quite stern in taking on the wind and waves, as if the elements are personal. "Be bound" is actually a better translation than "Be Quiet." Anyway, the men are left wondering about who Jesus is that "wind and sea obey him."

The Greek word for faith, "Have you still no faith" doesn't refer to believing but about utter trust in the power of God. So the disciples are just beginning to understand that Jesus is taking them into a completely new order or realm. First-faith.

Maybe the words of Jesus in the first verses, "Let us go to the other side," aren't so much about the other side of the lake as it is about the other side of trust. Ah! When I trust God completely I've really made a crossing. And the doorway into this kind of crossing over is humility: putting aside so much of my agenda, supposed knowledge, self-reliance and power claims, coming upon the other side ~ the new land  of reliance upon God's good lead. Do you recall when that first began to happen to  you?

I remember as a young boy serving the old Mass and kneeling at the left foot of the priest at the Consecration. I would ring the little bell with my left hand and raise the edge of the priest's chasuble a bit with my right. Talk about crossing over into a different realm! Remember the poor, broken Gospel woman, all exhausted and bleeded out, and pressed in by the crowd saying of Jesus, "If only I can touch his clothes, I will be well." Mark 5:28. It was like that: crossing over into first faith.

I'd say we've all got a crossing over into first-faith story to tell.

Jesus Calms the Stormy Sea

Mark 4: 35-41

Hear the mysterious gospel words:

They took Jesus in the boat, just as he was.

Lord Jesus,  I come to you, just as I am:

divided, confounded, hopeful and poor.

And there were other boats with them:

an armada of faith.

O Christ, I will follow you in humility and love.

Even as you sleep in the boat of my life.

The apostles were swamped by wind and wave

imploring Jesus, Master we are lost.

But let us rest comfortably beside Christ the Lord,

trusting he will see us to safety and peace.

You awoke and addressed the wind and sea,

Quiet now, be calm,

O Jesus, speak words of power when I am lost

in the grip of worry and doubt.

O Christ, Lord of nature:

You calm the turmoil of the seas.

Your miracles bring shouts of joy

to the gateways of morning and evening. (Psalm 65:7,8)

When the Lord asked the apostles: Have you no faith?

he wondered, as they had witnessed his miracles.

And so we glorify Christ our God,

who spares us in compassion, dwelling in need.

The apostles were preserved from drowning

by the Lord's powerful word.

But overcome with awe they said to one another,

Even the wind and sea obey him!

O Christ our God, you asked for faith,

so I come before you in abandonment and trust.

Letting go of reliance upon my own strengths,

I surrender to your power and life-guiding Word.

In the calming of the sea, O Christ,

you were dismayed at our lack of faith.

But in joy and truth, I will not disappoint you;

receive the offering of my energies and heart.:

In the calming of the threatening sea,

Christ the Master established God's rule.

Dis'mantling Satan's Kingdom without walls:

O Christ our God, glory to you!