I hope this doesn't offend anyone, but I thought that this scripture was very appropriate for our lives and times...


Scripture Reading: Luke 8:22-25
One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side of the lake." So they put out, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A windstorm swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to him and woke him up, shouting, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, "Where is your faith?" They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?"

What I see....
To protect oneself, there is need for a healthy fear of wind and water. When warning signs come, it's wise to evacuate town or climb into the lifeboat. So why does Jesus ask, "Where is your faith?"

When we are consumed by fear, we create a self-fulfilling prophecy about the reality we dread. A fear-driven stock market keeps plummeting; when we compete rather than collaborate some end up losing; when we hoard, scarcity emerges.

This scripture proclaims that Jesus Christ has authority over all aspects of the universe. To me this means that God has embedded love within the design of creation for the good of all creatures. God is fulfilling God's reign on earth, even when all we sense is turbulence. If we fully believed this, we would trust that God is at work before we ever show up.

We would be more comfortable with chaos, often a seedbed for new life. We would wait for clarity in a time of ambiguity and find hope in the midst of despair. We could get a good rest. As the Christian mystic Julian of Norwich attested, "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."

Have faith in whatever your beliefs.

Blessings,
Anne