Recently, I took a morning off to make a kind of mini-retreat. The focus of that little retreat was a passage from the Gospel of Mark which was written down by a professional story-teller so that the translation is a bit different than I am used to. Here is the story:

 “And while they were out at sea there arose a great windstorm and the waves

 beat into the boat, so that it was now filling up with much water. And he, Jesus, was

 all the way in the back of the boat, asleep on a cushion; and they went to him and awoke

 him, saying, “Master, do you not care that we perish?” And he arose and yelled at the

 Winds, and then he said unto the sea, “Peace, be still.” And all at once the wind shut up,

 the waters relaxed, and then there was great calm.  And then he turned and said to them,

 “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith in you?  And they feared a

 great fear, and they whispered to one another, “Who is this that even the wind and the

 sea obeys him?”

Isn’t that a great rendition of that gospel story?  I know that I have read that part of Mark’s gospel many times in the past, but this particular translation of it made it come so alive for me so that my morning of reflection was a real blessing.  I want to share it with you in the hope that you too will find in it a source of strength and peace.

It occurs to me that the events of that story can serve as a parable for each of us when we find ourselves in troubled times.  Think about it for a moment.  When times get difficult for you, doesn’t it feel like you are being beaten down by fierce winds and that the boat of your ability to cope is filling up with so much turmoil that you are about to go under? Perhaps too you have felt that as you are going through some crisis or very difficult ordeal that God seems to be “asleep”?  What are we to do in the face of such overwhelming feelings?

I think what we have to do is to do what the apostles did; they went immediately and woke Jesus up. They shook him awake and because they were so afraid, they probably yelled at him.  When Jesus was asleep all the way in the back of the boat, he probably seemed very far away even though he was just a few yards away. This is exactly how it is with us when life scares us to death. God can seem far away and asleep, yet he is very near.

The whole description of waking Jesus is really a description of prayer. It is the apostles (and us) turning to Jesus, begging him to help us with our fears.  Jesus responds by yelling at the wind and speaking to the sea. Instantly there is calm.  The calming that followed was not found only in the dying down of the winds and the sea, but it was also in the hushing of the panic-filled hearts of those apostles who had “feared a great fear”.

This week, why not take some time to read and pray the translation of Mark’s Gospel story above?  I found that it brought me a sense of the Lord’s closeness and a rather profound experience of the peace that only He can give. .Try it, there is nothing quite like  the experience of the grace of His calming peace.