The readings
today give very clear images of the immense power that is behind
storms and water and wind. This is especially true when all three
are combined when we experience a storm over a large body of water.
Even though we live in the Midwest, a far distance from the closest
ocean, I think it is safe to say that we know something of the power
of wind and water. We have all witnessed, I'm sure, what happens
when the wind picks up over that rather large lake at the bottom of
the hill. We have seen the waves crashing on the rocks down at the
canal and even felt the bite of the wind as it whips across the lake
in the winter time. We have all heard or read stories about the
shipwrecks on Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes and have heard
Gorden Lightfoot sing of the tragedy of the “Wreck of the Edmund
Fitzgerald”. I've seen what happens when a storm comes up on a
small lake, so I am glad I have not experienced that on the big lake.
It doesn't
even have to be a storm for us to experience this raw power of water.
In the summer of 2012, many people in this area were victims of
flooding and saw first hand the damage that water can bring. Every
few weeks the TV news channels show us a new natural disaster that
has taken place in the world, usually involving water. Whether it is
flooding, mudslides, or tsunamis, water is able to bring destruction
just as easily as it brings life to plants and animals. We have even
seen that when a tropical storm or hurricane makes landfall,
sometimes the greatest threat isn't the storm itself but the massive
storm surge that comes with it. Huge waves come crashing in,
flooding communities, causing damage, and taking human lives.
When it
comes to water and wind and storms and other natural forces, there is
really only so much that we can do. We can damn up rivers and
control the water level in certain bodies of water. We can construct
buildings that can better withstand the forces of nature. We can
even predict the weather more accurately than ever before so that we
can warn communities of possible danger. However, when the storms
come, the waves crash, the wind blows and all of nature seems to rear
its ugly head, all we can really hope to do is to try to stay out of
danger. Only God can set the limits of the water and control the
winds and the storms. God alone has the power to create such things
and the power to set them according to His will.
In the first
reading from the Book of Job, God speaks to Job from a storm while
describing the creation of the seas. Perhaps Job was watching a
storm rage on the Mediterranean Sea as God described how He formed
the mighty waters and put them in their place. At this point in the
story of Job, God is proving to Job that He, the Lord, is the one who
is all just and all knowing and all powerful.
God starts
out his speech by speaking from a storm. Many times is the Old
Testament (but not always) God is depicted as speaking from a storm
cloud. Perhaps the Old Testament writers wanted to illustrate God's
power. Not only is the storm strong and powerful, but God is so
powerful that He can create a storm through which He is able to speak
to the main character in the story; Job is this case.
God goes on
to describe the creation of the sea. He uses the imagery of the
birth of a child to talk about forming the sea. Just as a birth is a
new creation and a gift from God, so also the waters were given to us
by the power of God. They “burst forth from the womb”, were
given clouds as garments and thick darkness as swaddling bands. But
God didn't just create the waters to be its own little place of chaos
on earth either. He gave it limits, as He goes on to explain to Job.
The image is used of doors being put is place and barred and the sea
being told to come no further. This is of course all figurative
speech to talk about the formation of the sea and the land in
creation. It also clearly shows that God is the one who is in
charge.
The Gospel
for today relates the well known story of the calming of the storm.
This takes place on the Sea of Galilee. Now, they call it a sea in
Israel, but it is what we would call a fresh water lake. It is
nowhere near the size of Lake Superior, but it is still large: about
64 square miles in size. That is about the size Lake Vermilion, but
without so many islands and bays. The lake is also surrounded by
mountains and hills that give the surrounding land a bit of a bowl
shape. This shape really seems to help storms come in and allow
winds to churn up the water and produce bad conditions on the water.
That seems to be what happens for the Apostles and Jesus on the boat
that day.
It seems
that Jesus wants to point out two important facts with what happens
here. One is that God is all powerful and able to control the sea
and the wind and the storm and that as the Son of God He has that
power as well. The other fact is that because God is all powerful,
we need to have faith. Faith is what allows us to stay connected
with God. Faith is what allows us to trust that God will be there
for us, even when the forces of nature seem unbearable. If the
Apostles had truly understood who was with them in the boat, if they
would have had faith in who He is, they would have know that He would
not allow them to perish, even while He was asleep.
We too are
called to have trust and faith in Jesus and in the Father. We know
from the stories we just heard and from all that we have learned
about God, that He will be there for us to protect us. We should not
let fear overwhelm us, but instead allow ourselves to put our
complete faith in Him. We do this by continuing to pray, to follow
His commandments, and by worshiping Him alone. Let us have faith in
our all powerful God!
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