ASLEEP IN THE STORM How often did Jesus and his followers cross the lake? It was as simple as catching a bus. Occasionally something went wrong, and they learnt there is even more to Jesus than they already knew.

THE STORM ON THE LAKE Mk 4, 35-40
That evening Jesus said: “Let’s cross to the other side.” They left the crowd there, and took him, just as he was, in the boat, with other boats accompanying them. A gale sprang up. Waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost swamped. He was in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep. They woke him up and said: “Master, don’t you care? We are going down!” He woke up and scolded the wind and said to the sea: “Quiet now! Be calm!” The wind dropped and everything was calm again. Then he asked: “Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?” They were awestruck and said to

one another: “Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.”

SIMON PETER tells us:
So we woke the carpenter’s son! Logical, isn’t it? Four of us (at least!) had been handling boats since we could crawl, but when things got desperate, we woke the landlubber! I remember that storm. I thought: “There’s a squall coming. Now we’ll see some fun.” Pitting our wits against the wind and the sea, quite exhilarating: teamwork, adrenalin. But this was more than that. The waves were breaking right into the boat, tossing it around like driftwood. We felt it personally, as though that storm was really out to get us. And d’you know where he was asleep? The helmsman’s cushion. Some helmsman! We were desperate, by the time we woke him. “Master, save us! We’re sinking!” although how he could help, I couldn’t imagine. At least we’d feel better about drowning, with him awake, all drowning together. He’s always the same, quite unruffled, the picture of calm. He spoke to those waves as though he was talking to naughty children: “Quiet! Calm down!” and the sea went as flat as a pancake! Complete hush, where you think: “Who’s switched the world off?” We looked . . , and looked . . , and looked at that flat sea; And then we worshipped him!

PRAYER Lord, be the calm in our storms.