Have you ever had the great fortune to watch someone else who is sleeping? If you have, perhaps you know how peaceful such a sight can be. In that very moment, it seems as though that slumbering person has not a care in the world, and we might even venture to say that he or she seems to be at peace.
The thought of serenity was probably far from the minds of the disciples on that day when, together in the boat, they experienced a violent storm ... up on the sea (Mt 8:24), but in the midst of their panic, Jesus was asleep. Was he sleeping peacefully? I'm sure that the disciples were anything but calm when they woke him, saying: Lord, save us! (Mt 8:25), yet we can imagine that Jesus was very relaxed, even sure of himself when he asked: Why are you terrified ... oh you of little faith (Mt 8:26).
Do we ever experience such moments of fear? Do we come looking for Jesus at such moments? Do we call out to him ... and how does he respond to our calls? Does he meet our frantic cries with his own words, calm, measured and reassuring? Does he speak with an authority that can only come from one who is indeed in control, or one who knows what it means to trust implicitly? Let us ask him who is capable of rebuking the seas to help us to trust more implicitly in him. Let us ask him to teach us to trust, so that we too can know the deep abiding calm that comes from such implicit trust.
Have a great day.
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