Daily lesson for June 22, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Mark chapter 4 verses 39 and 40:

"He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet! Be still!' Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

"He said to his disciples, 'Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?'"

This was the text from yesterday's Gospel reading, the miracle of Jesus calming the storm and also what I said was the miracle of Jesus keeping calm in the storm.

I tried to say that in these tumultuous and chaotic times we live in there is a need for deep calm and peace within all of us, lest we just about loose ourselves in panic and fear as Jesus' disciples did.

But something more.  In his astonishing book "Binding the Strong Man" Biblical scholar Ched Myers has shown that the Sea of Galilee is a dividing wall between peoples -- Jews and Gentiles. And that Jesus is always attempting to send his disciples across the sea to the other side for the purpose of inclusion and reconciliation but that powerful forces including a demonic storm keep pushing them back.

Christ continues to tell us to go to the other side I said; and surely we have made so much progress as a people.  After so many long and hard-fought nights we can see reconciliation's shore.

But now the storm has struck -- a man possessed by a demon called racism and whose middle name is in fact Storm, attacked the boat called Mother Emanuel with the intent of pushing her back from her destination and seeking to drown her and her spirit in chaos and anarchy.  And not just Emanuel.  The story says that there were other boats with the one Jesus and the disciples were in.  The Storm has struck all the boats sailing in the same direction and seeks to destroy us all.

And into the face of that chaos Jesus stands on the bow now and says, "Quiet, be calm," and our souls are calmed.  And then he asks, "Why are you so afraid"

We know now that demonic storms are against us; and that where there is one there will be more also.  And so now Jesus is speaking to us about fear and he is telling us that it fear that can turn us around -- but only if we let it.

"Do you still have no faith?" he asks, and by that I think He means do we still lack faith that we as a people can get there -- to the other side, where we as differing peoples will after 400 years of separation and segregation finally find reconciliation and finally be at one.

The story ends with this question; and I suppose it's because the answer is up to us.  Do we have the faith to keep going across or in fear will we decide to turn back.

This is the calm after the storm, but there will be others to come; for the powers are persistent.  And in the quiet, we have the question. Keep going or turn around? Now we must make our choice.

I know what I've decided . . .