Be Still!

June 23, 2024

Today’s Gospel speaks of a great disturbance…so great that the disciples who are fisher men fear for their own lives.

One commentator points out that

“This is a remarkable story; Mark is not particularly interested in geographical details, but gets Jesus and his disciples to cross the sea.”

I have mentioned before that mark has a lot of coming and going Jesus is constantly on the move. Jesus just decides out of nowhere to just up and leave. They could have walked elsewhere but instead they got into their boats and went across the sea of Galilee.

“The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret or Kinnereth, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is approximately 33 mi in circumference, about 13 mi long, and 8.1 mi wide. Its area is 64.4 sq mi at its fullest, and its maximum depth is approximately 141 feet. At levels between 705 ft and 686 ft below sea level, it is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth and the second-lowest lake in the world (after the Dead Sea, a saltwater lake). The lake is fed partly by underground springs although its main source is the Jordan River which flows through it from north to south.”

Crossing the sea of Galilee is no big deal, most of the time, and well Jesus is with a bunch of fisherman. So, what can go wrong? Well we hear a “storm of great wind” arises which is fairly common, yet the disciples panic the waves are coming into the boat and the boat is starting to fill yet Jesus sleeps.

This got me to wondering what the boat looked like. Luckily there was one recently discovered that dates back to about that time.

“The Ancient Galilee Boat, also known as the Jesus Boat, is an ancient fishing boat from the 1st century AD, discovered in 1986 on the north-west shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. The remains of the boat, 27 feet (8.27 meters) long, 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) wide and with a maximum preserved height of 4.3 feet (1.3 meters), first appeared during a drought, when the waters of the Sea (actually a great fresh-water lake) receded.”

So Jesus could have been sleeping along some sort of seat since the boat is 7.5 feet wide but how did he not roll off in rough waters? How did he not get wet?

Now frankly either the Disciples are panicking for no reason or Jesus can sleep well balanced while rocking violently and wet!

I suspect, knowing the disciples, they were panicked for no good reason. Well maybe one Good reason, so that we might learn to trust the lord.

“As often happens in these parts, a storm comes up unexpectedly, and the disciples panic, accusing Jesus of indifference to their fate. Like someone calming a boisterous dog, Jesus orders the sea to behave (and it does), then rebukes the disciples, for the first time indicating the importance of faith to them.”

The importance of faith. The importance of trusting. The importance of looking to see God. Paying attention to see God active in your life, if you want to see Jesus show up, you must look for them.

How many times are we caught up in our own storms, our own mishaps, our own illnesses, weaknesses, needs, fears, our own got to have it because I want it moments? How many times do we, in our most significant hours of need lift prayers in dire earnest? How often in our least important moment of the day do we nonchalantly turn to the lord and just say please God. Yet in the end they all have the same measure, and, in the end, we rarely look to see the answer.

We rarely pause to say thank you lord. We rarely stop to acknowledge Gods presence. Now I am not saying we do not do it. We at least do it or think about it on a Sunday, but what about the other 6 days of the week? I am just asking because this little passage got me thinking.

Now this calming of the sea happened neither here nor there they are in route from one place to another where this miracle occurs. One commentator points out that.

“Jesus likes to show up in liminal spaces in Mark — sites of transition or risk. He chooses to go to marginal spaces, away from life’s regular patterns: near a graveyard (Mark 5:2-3), at a deathbed (Mark 5:40), or hoisted atop Golgotha. He situates himself at geographical boundary-lands, like the wilderness (Mark 1:4-9, 35), mountaintops (Mark 3:13; 6:46; 9:2), Tyre (Mark 7:24), and Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:27). He also goes to sociopolitical borderlands, politically charged locations like a tax collector’s home (Mark 2:14-15) and the land outside of Jerusalem during Passover (Mark 11:11, 19).

The Sea of Galilee was both kinds of places: geographically, it separated the peoples of one shore from those on the other side; socio-politically, it provided sustenance to Galileans and generated resources that Rome could extract from those who depended on it to make a living. It kept populations distanced from each other, and it fed imperial appetites”

This is important on two aspects symbolically calming the waters that are so agitated by imperial power could symbolize the effect Jesus’ life has on all powers that be. Eventually they will calm by Christs command.

The first part of this comment that “Jesus likes to show up in the liminal spaces. I just love. Jesus in the in between space. That spot where you are neither in nor out that place where we are neither here nor there. The scariest of all places for it is in the liminal space where we tend to be the most insecure, the most frightened, and sometimes the most lost. It is in these places that we often go in prayer to seek out answers. It is in these the most difficult of times in life that Jesus shows up.

But we would never see or hear Jesus, the sprit, God if we do not stop and listen. I am not sure if Jesus’ command to be still is strictly for the sea but for the disciples as well.

Stillness is one of the most sacred traditions of how we find God in our home, in our offices, out and about. Being still is about well as the old song says putting our hand in the hand of the man who stilled the waters. Tehra Cox, author. Lyricist and word artist, shares her new found experience of stillness while on a walk.

Meditation Tehra Cox
“When I moved from the noisy concrete and steel canyons of New York City to a small Hudson Valley village with its serenely forested highlands, I was stunned by the radical change of scenery. As late summer turned into fall, my favorite season, nature’s magic began its work on me. From one of my first autumn walks along the wooded mountain path behind the old Victorian house that was my new home, I was introduced to the uncanny voices of the natural world.

My first encounter with what I call “Earth-Speak” was nothing less than phenomenal for its impact on my life and sensibility. As I came around a bend at the top of the mountain, the lush goldenness of maples along the trail nearly took my breath away. They colored the very air around them. As I stood transfixed, it seemed that all the flora of the woods began to sway toward me. The dramatic red-orange-gold hues in all shapes and sizes were pulsating with light, sounds and scents so intoxicating that I wasn’t sure if I was breathing or drinking. Suddenly, I “heard” a whispering of words that I will never forget: “Ah yes, the very things you humans love about us – our different colors and shapes and smells and languages – are the things you often hate about each other. Alas, you have lost touch with your beauties because you have lost touch with us.”

Having just moved out of a city teeming with the tensions that densely-populated diversities of culture, creed, economy – and yes, race – too often provoke, this message was stunning and timely for me. During that first year of “life in the country,” I became unusually acquainted with this sentient world. In my daily walks with pen and paper, the presences of nature enfolded me in their lushness while I chronicled their wisdom-teachings. As these “inner tuitions” invited me to consider some of life’s most paradoxical mysteries, they required only one thing of me – to be utterly present and receptive. I didn’t know to call it that at the time – I was only aware that I felt light and free, as if all the space around the trees and the flowers and blades of grass was also around, and even inside, me.”

To be “utterly present and receptive” requires one to be still. To create our own in between space. Between the thing you have just finished and the next thing on your to do list. Many people begin their day with morning meditation, or quiet time. I have my quite time in the morning in my office. But I also strive for a midday. Even I it is but 10 minutes just to still the mind and find God. Time to Be still…Slow down…listen for God and the spirit’s still small voice.

This is not easy to do and it does take dedication and practice. Did you know it takes three months of doing the same thing every day at the same time before it becomes a habit.

And we are not built the same for some absolute stillness is maddening. There are many ways to be still even while being active.

Thich Nhat Hanh was a mystic, scholar, activist, and Vietnamese monk author of over 25 books including Living Buddha Living Christ which I highly recommend for reading also has a books on walking mediatation.

“Many of us walk for the sole purpose of getting from one place to another. Now suppose we are walking to a sacred place. We would walk quietly and take each gentle step with reverence. I propose that we walk this way every time we walk on the earth. The earth is sacred and we touch her with each step. We should be very respectful, because we are walking on our mother. If we walk like that, then every step will be grounding, every step will be nourishing….

Walking meditation unites our body and our mind. We combine our breathing with our steps. When we breathe in, we may take two or three steps. When we breathe out, we may take three, four, or five steps. We pay attention to what is comfortable for our body.

Our breathing has the function of helping our body and mind to calm down. As we walk, we can say, Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I bring peace into my body. Calming the breath calms the body and reduces any pain and tension.”

We can also combine our breathing with a simple prayer or intention you whish to lift up as you walk. This calms and centers the mind, creates an inner stillness that makes room for God.

Many people engage this stillness by praying the Labyrinth. Labyrinths have been used as a sacred path and spiritual resource by pilgrims for centuries, and some say they originated as scaled-down pilgrimages for people who couldn’t travel to a holy place. Labyrinths can be made of stone, turf, or ink on paper, and they are different from mazes because they don’t have dead-ends, puzzles, or tricks. Instead, they form a winding path that leads to the center and back out again.

The meandering labyrinth pathway can be seen as a metaphor for life’s journey. Walking the labyrinth with the intention of revisiting one’s life can invite memories to appear and reform with new connections.

I have seen people walk the labyrinth in silence. I have seen people dance their way through the labyrinth. There is no right or wrong way to pray.

Finally I will mention art as a form of prayer. And yes we are all artists! For any type of creativity is an art form. That means cooking, writing, gardening, singing, knitting, photography and the list goes on and on. Sometimes though we need to be intentional about time for art and creativity. Personally I love the artist way as a spiritual growth tool and a practice.

“Since its first publication, The Artist’s Way phenomena has inspired …millions of readers to embark on a creative journey and find a deeper connection to process and purpose. Julia Cameron’s novel approach guides readers in uncovering problems areas and pressure points that may be restricting their creative flow and offers techniques to free up any areas where they might be stuck, opening up opportunities for self-growth and self-discovery.

The program begins with Cameron’s most vital tools for creative recovery – The Morning Pages, a daily writing ritual of three pages of stream-of-conscious, and The Artist Date, a dedicated block of time to nurture your inner artist. From there, she shares hundreds of exercises, activities, and prompts to help readers thoroughly explore each chapter. She also offers guidance on starting a “Creative Cluster” of fellow artists who will support you in your creative endeavors.”

The morning pages easily become a still focused prayer. The artist date becomes intentional time of creativity and connecting to the spirit as one explores artistic venues.

But all these things encourage us to find stillness, find prayer, engage and walk with God so that we may still our own troubled waters. amen

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[1] King, Nicholas. The Bible: A Study Bible. Buxhall, Stowmarket, Suffolk: Kevin Mayhew, 2013

[1] “Sea of Galilee.” Wikipedia. June 19, 2018. Accessed June 20, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Galilee

[1] Ditto

[1] King, Nicholas. The Bible: A Study Bible. Buxhall, Stowmarket, Suffolk: Kevin Mayhew, 2013.

[1] “Commentary on Mark 4:35-41 by Matt Skinner.” Ephesians 2:11-22 Commentary by Kyle Fever – Working Preacher – Preaching This Week (RCL). Accessed June 20, 2018. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3677

[1] https://www.terahcox.com/blog/the-secret-language-of-earth-speak-by-terah-cox

[1] https://www.lionsroar.com/walking-meditation-thich-nhat-hanh/

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Artists-Way-25th-Anniversary