The days after...
Jesus woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased and there was a dead calm. He said to the disciples, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”
—Mark 4:39–40
The disciples yelled their distress as Jesus slept amid the storm, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are drowning?” Clearly the disciples were panicked, but Jesus was not.
Today, social media soundbites, pundits, and projections all bring about the perfect storm of anxiety. I wonder if you feel like Jesus is asleep at the helm while anxiety and uncertainty buffets your body? “Peace! Be still!” What a grace that Jesus does not share our panic. Imagine if he had run around the boat frantically searching for life jackets and trying to bail out water instead of being an instrument of peace. Was it really the storm of the lake that Jesus calmed, or the storm of panic the disciples were experiencing?
As I meditated in community this week - Cultivating Trust in Polarizing Times - the image of the MLK monument in Washington D.C. came to mind. Upon approaching the monument, visitors walk a path between two massive granite halves titled the “Mountain of Despair” to reach the “Stone of Hope” from which MLK emerges. “Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope” comes from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which he grips in his hand. His stance is resolute as he faces the Jefferson monument calling for accountability. For me, his emergence from the granite behind him represents the movement he brought forward, even as his feet are grounded in faith. May this image, or the rising from your own moment of contemplation, ground you in trust as good work continues.
Winds of anxiety may attempt to steer you this week. Doubt may rain down. “Peace! Be Still!” Repeat frequently. Stand firm. Let us also be instruments of peace.
In this together…