Matthew 8:25-26 And they went and awakened Him, saying, Lord, rescue and preserve us! We are perishing! And He said to them, Why are you timid and afraid, O you of little faith? Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great and wonderful calm (a perfect peaceableness). Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. |
We have a tradition at camp, on one of the final nights, to each light a candle lodged in a slice of a tree branch and set the bobbing light to float in the lake. All the candles are released at once and the result is miraculously beautiful. Tears, inevitably, accompany the ceremony, as none of the girls are eager to go home and leave the sacred space. The candles in their wooden boats always seem precariously doomed, as they bob to and fro with the gentle ripples, their flame flickering. There are times in life when I feel like one of those bobbing candles, seemingly doomed to topple over and have my light [bestowed upon me by Christ] doused in the waters. Yet, against all odds, the candles stay afloat and light up the night in reverence. I must have the faith that despite my rough-hewn vessel, God won't let me topple.
As Jesus reminded his fearful disciples during the storm, so he reminds me: "Why are your timid and afraid, O you of little faith?" Why am I timid when my life abounds with blessings and the waters I float on are relatively calm? As Renita J. Weems says in Listening for God, "Why have I been hurled into this inner darkness when from all appearances on the outside things are dazzling and clear? […] Why now? When prayer should be easy, since there is so much to be thankful for, why do I think of ways to avoid doing it?” But spiritual life does not conform to this world and material comforts do not yield strong faith. I love Audrey Assad's meditation on the things that bind us and keep us from intimacy with God. Her sung poetry expresses it better than I can today.
As Jesus reminded his fearful disciples during the storm, so he reminds me: "Why are your timid and afraid, O you of little faith?" Why am I timid when my life abounds with blessings and the waters I float on are relatively calm? As Renita J. Weems says in Listening for God, "Why have I been hurled into this inner darkness when from all appearances on the outside things are dazzling and clear? […] Why now? When prayer should be easy, since there is so much to be thankful for, why do I think of ways to avoid doing it?” But spiritual life does not conform to this world and material comforts do not yield strong faith. I love Audrey Assad's meditation on the things that bind us and keep us from intimacy with God. Her sung poetry expresses it better than I can today.