Samuel 17: (1a,4-11, 19-23), 32-49; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13; Mark 4:35-41Therough seas of life, the storms in which we find ourselves, seem sooverwhelming, so all encompassing, and we may feel we are so alone. Take for instance the normal challenges oflife, those little squalls of aches and pains as we age, medical procedures, prescriptions,and doctor’s visits. Then we have thereal crisis, that real crisis of life, those category 4 hurricanes: thedevastating phone call from the doctor’s office with the test results, the phonecall from a child or grandchild who is struggling with their own issues, thedeath of a loved one, and then we have the personal pain of our own suffering. Life comes at us with its tempestuous seas,with huge waves that batter us, sometimes drenching us with its unrelenting vigor. Have you ever been in that place? Have you ever been in that boat of life whenall seems lost, when the next step may be catastrophe, where you live in greatfear and loathing? Have you ever said toGod, “Why are you letting this happen to me?” “Don’t you care?” “I have beenfaithful and this is how I have to live?” This is the story of those disciples in the boat with the Master,sailing on that tempestuous sea 2000 years ago. Death, despair, fear, faithlessness was all around them, and God wasasleep at the bow of the ship.
“Teacherdon’t you care that we are perishing?” “Help,God—the bottom has fallen out of my life! Master, hear my cry for help! Listenhard! Open your ears! Listen to my cries for mercy.” (Psalm 130 The Message) The Psalms are filled with the lamentationsof the faithful who in their despair, in their vulnerability, in their plight,they cry out to God. When my daughterwas small, it was not unusual for her to scrape a knee, acquire a splinter,lose a tooth, or come up against some challenge that she would soon realized,she could not handle herself. Sherealized that she was dependent on someone beyond herself, and when she criedout in need, I guarantee that I came running. Why? Because she is precious tome. She is my child and I love her. She cries and I respond. She needed her Dad, and I showed up. There were times though when thecircumstances were not such that my fixing them were either possible or in herbest interest. There were times when asa Dad, the best I could do was to be there in her pain, in her despair, in heruncertainty and it was those times, that a deeper healing for her tookplace.
When we find ourselves in the storms of life,when that doctor’s office calls, the loved one calls with their own storms, whenall around us seems lost, do we cry out? Do we say, “God do you even care, are you asleep in all this,” or do weresolutely proclaim, “I can handle this, I got this, I can deal with thisalone.” When we are in despair, God’sheart is drawn to us. When we cry, God hearsus. When we suffer, God suffers with withus in the midst of those moments. God:Father, Son, Holy Spirit, God: Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, is not the God ofDivine Indifference. When we suffer, Godsuffers. When we celebrate, Godcelebrates. God is the God of Incarnatedpresence in times of joy, peace, and even in those times of tempestuous storms. The Master of the Universe is not the Masterof Divine Indifference.
Inthe boat 2000 years ago, the disciples were wrestling with the specific eventsof their perilous circumstances: a rocking boat, the blowing wind, the crashingwaves, and darkening skies of a storm. Theywere also wrestling with another storm, one that was even more perilous, more volatile,more pivotal for their lives. They werein the middle of a spiritual storm of fear, despair, and faithlessness. Yes, the actual storm was in itself somethingoverwhelming, but it was that storm was stirring up in them, that was the greaterthreat.
OnNBC news yesterday, I watched a segment about a young man named, Spencer West who lost his legs at the age offive, and recently it was reported that he scaled the tallest peak in Africa,Mount Kilimanjaro with only the power of his arms and in so doing, raised$500,000 for an international charity. Can you imagine the physical storm he facedwhen he learned that he would lose his limbs? Can you imagine the spiritual storm of fear, uncertainty, defeat andpain he faced when receiving that news? Yet, his spirit was not defeated, he did find peace in hiscircumstances, and the storm in his spirit was calmed. God’s presence calms the spiritual storm,even when the reality of the weather around us is ominous and threatening.
“Peace, be still,” was Jesus proclamation tothe disciples crying in their storm. Yes, Jesus calmed the waves, the rain, the threat to life, but the greatermiracle was the calming of the spiritual storm in the disciples spirits. In the midst of life’s circumstances, there aregreat storms within us. We wrestle withour own unrest, our demons, our fears, our desire to control our circumstancesor the circumstances of others. We wanteverything to be at peace on the outside, but we forget that there is a peacebeyond our understanding that can be found within our Spirit, when we recognizethat Jesus is present with us in the boat. “Peace, be still.” Even whenlife’s circumstances all around us is falling apart, God is with us in the boatcalling us to be still and know that He is God.
Godis not a God “out there,” but Present, available, compassionate and powerful. God can calm the storms of our spirit. Astrophysicist Adam Frank recently wrote anarticle for NPR news in which, he shared a life-changing experience he had at aconference that focused on the work of the scientists working with the Keplertelescope. Frank began the article speakingabout the mundane things of life, the problems we all face each day, thelooming bills, the relationship issues. The article appeared to be another science commentary until suddenly, Frankcaught my eye with this statement, “The days come and they go. You do your best. You try not to hurt anyone, try to be helpful. But sometimes — just sometimes — the fog ofreal and imagined urgencies parts. Staringacross the abyss of your own brief time on this world, you wonder, "Doesany of this matter?” * I nearly fell out of my chair. The scientist, where he realized it or not, wasasking a deep theological question about the storms of life, and how thosestorms relate to God the creator of all we survey, and is presence with us inthose storms. He caught my attention andI read on.
Frankwent on to say that in the universe, in a small patch of sky no bigger than thepalm of his hand, the Kepler telescope has found “more than 72 new worlds . . . with a few thousand more consideredcandidates. But most important of all, afew of Kepler worlds are the size of Earth. They are, most likely, rocky worlds like our own.” * In that moment ofdiscovery, his paradigm shifted and the significance of the telescopes imagesreminded him that there was something beyond him upon which he could depend. He wrote, “It felt as if the floor of all myroutine concerns dropped out from under me: the bills I forgot to pay before Ileft; the car brakes that need fixing when I get back; my relationship with mycousins; my concerns about the election; my concerns about the cough that istaking too long to go away; all of it just deflated against one single andinescapable fact.” * Now we could easily hear this and say, thatmaybe his bills, car brakes, relationship issues, and cough are not important,are insignificant when compared to such a vast and expansive universe, but Frankwent on to say, “Thus, for me, anytime I can be lifted from the crushing sensethat this is all there is, it's a good thing. Anytime I can be reminded that there is more, so much more, than thismortal coil, it feels like a good thing.”*
Ibelieve that Frank may in some unknown way, realized what is outside the mortalcoil, is the spirit within us; the same spirit that communes with God’s Spirit. That even in the mundane circumstances oflife, even in the veracity of the storms we face, we can find a peace that“lifts us from the crushing sense that this is all there is.” Jesus says, “Peace be still.” Notice, Our Lord does not declare that fromafar off, in some distant space out there, beyond the galaxies and planets, buthe offers us this peace as one of us, in the boat with us. Imagine, the Creator of a universe who in thespace no bigger than the palm of our hand, created multiple possibilities of life beyondus, is also so awesome, so great, so compassionate, and so loving, that hehears my cry? I am awestruck that thereis something much bigger than we, beyond our imagination and yet, God loves us,God cares about our circumstances, and God is with us in all of it. The writer of today’s gospel records, “Andthey were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then isthis, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" (NRSV)
God theCreator, Redeemer, Sustainer invites us to cry out in our storms, not toactivate or wake God up, but to wake up inside of us the knowledge of his presencewith us. We can in the spirit come toknow the peace beyond understanding, when we can accept that the source of thegalaxies, planets, systems, that are beyond our comprehension, is with us. Even when the storms rage, the seas toss usrelentlessly, the rain pours down, and all seems lost, Jesus comes beside usand says, “Peace, be still.”
*EXCERPTS FROM “Stars, Planets, and Meaningless Life” byAdam Frank; NPR Website: http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2012/06/19/155344057/stars-planets-and-the-meaningless-life
Wildwood, N.J.......a summer resort destination.
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- Seacoast residents planning a few quiet, low-key days over the weekend of June 30 and July 1 may need to rethink their plans. Making ...
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Team | Disabled American Veterans(DAV) will reach out to veterans and their families sharing its message of service and volunteerism in support of our nation’s combat-wounded men and women at the Boston-Portsmouth Air Show on June 30-July 1. In the company of the iconic World War II era B-25 Mitchell Bomber, the Disabled American Veterans Flight Team will appear at the Boston-Portsmouth Air Show. The airshow is one stop on a nationwide tour that aims to increase public awareness of disabled veterans and provide information about DAV programs and benefits. The B-25, which gained notoriety in the famed Doolittle Raid over Tokyo, Japan 70 years ago, shares a modern-day mission with DAV -- reminding people of the sacrifices veterans make for freedom. As brave men and women return...
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Naples by water can be as relaxing or adventurous as you make it. Just know that water is all around and just waiting for you to explore. Ask your Hilton Naples Concierge for additional information on these water activities and other things to do in Naples Florida.