Saturday in the Second Week of Easter, April 30, 2022
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Every time I look into the Holy Book I wanna tremble
My friend Thomas often takes his family to Pensacola, an hour away from their Alabama home, for some beach time. They romp in the surf. They take a picnic and get sand in the potato salad. They eat chicken legs while the kids run around and scream happy screams. The sun rises, and the sun sets. Rarely do they see anyone walking on the water.
The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles across the Sea of Galilee toward Capernaum, it had already gone dark.
What do you think is going to happen next?
The Sea of Galilee has never known such a thing! And neither has the Gulf of Mexico.
They saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I.”
It’s me, it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.
It is I. Do not be afraid.
The story gets a little magical after that. I guess you could say Jesus walking on the water was magical too, but that seems more just like something he did naturally. What is supernatural about Jesus walking on water? Water belongs to him the way it could have belonged to us, if we hadn’t been in such a hurry in the Garden to eat that apple. We can’t walk on water, even Peter couldn’t, but Jesus? No problem for him. “Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea. Take a look at yourself and you can look at others differently …”
The disciples wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore near Capernaum.
Next week’s lectionary takes us with the early Christ followers, and then along with Saul their persecutor on one journey, and at the same time carries us along with Jesus as he pushes back against the miracle-seeking fishermen and farmers of Capernaum and nearby villages. Come and eat my flesh, he tells them. By the end of next week his listeners are very disturbed, and many turn away.
These adventures appear at times in movies, in novels, and of course in the Bible. If I can imagine myself into them, as Ignatius encourages his Jesuits to do in their meditations, then the stories come alive. The dust on the ground and the smell of fish and bread enrich my prayer. Others’ unwashed skin rubs against my own. Hearing Jesus’ words, or Saul’s, or Peter’s, I feel fear, I feel joy, I feel hope.
The word of God continues to spread, and the number of disciples increases greatly, as we become obedient to the faith.
God loves us more than we can ever love our own selves. And that’s the truth.
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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