|
|
this week
events
images
music
video
spirituality
action
words
prayer
labyrinth
links
shop
downloads
blog
webcasts
location
contacts
Calming the Storm
A meditation based on Jesus calming the storm.... First read Mark Ch.4 v.35-41.
Close your eyes, imagine Jesus walking into the boat. You follow.... The air is warm, but clammy, it has a clammy humid feel to it. You can smell the salt, the seaweed, the lingering smells of fish. You are all tired, but especially Jesus. It has been a long day of preaching, and healing. Some of the disciples nod off, and so does Jesus, lulled by the gentle swaying of the boat in the waves. You can hear the lapping of the water, the flapping of the sails, you can see flickering lamplight in the villages by the lake....
Suddenly a cold blast of air hits you. And the waves begin to rise. Thick grey clouds roll overhead and the air tingles. The boat begins to roll... and suddenly an enormous crash of thunder wakes most of the sleeping apostles. The boat lurches, the waves get higher, spray begins to splash your face.... but Jesus sleeps. Then suddenly it is as if the sky is throwing everything it can at you. Sheets of rain are pummelling the deck, and the boat is wildly leaping from side to side. Threatening to capsize. The other apostles are shouting to each other, to Andrew at the back of the boat desperately trying to keep on course, the rudder slips in his hands and the boat spins around.... Then one of the disciples gently shakes Jesus. "Master, MASTER. Save us...we're going to drown!"
Jesus sits up, the rain running down his face, he shouts to be heard above the wind. "You've not got much faith have you. Why are you afraid?".... You shiver from the cold, and the embarrassment of the rebuke, you draw your clothes tighter around you to try and keep out the water that seeps through every seam... but you wait curiously, for what is going to happen next. Jesus stands up... with the boat lurching and spinning wildly, the slippery deck and the creaking timbers of the mast ....he stands up and says, "Wind. WIND. BE QUIET!" and... the wind stops, and the boat gives another sudden lurch as the pressure of the sea sends it tipping down the crest of another wave. "WAVES. CALM DOWN!" and the sea... becomes like glass, like a millpond. All is silent, all is calm. No sound save the distant echoes of puzzles voices coming from the houses on the shore and the sharp intakes of breath of the apostles. The wind begins to blow a gentle breeze softly caressing them towards the shore. You feel stunned. Disorientated.... Then you hear one apostle say to another, as Jesus curls up to sleep once more "Who is he? What sort of person can he be if even the wind and the waves do as he says?"
| This page last updated: 28-Aug-2002 |
 |
visions@visions-york.org |