Fear of Going Down
- davidwperk
- Feb 29, 2024
- 6 min read
Devotional Reflection, Friday, February 29, 2024
The week of the second Sunday in Lent
The Rev. David W. Perkins, ThD.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:
37A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ 39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?
You will find the full text of today’s Gospel at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 953)
AM Psalm 95 [for the Invitatory] 69:1-23(24-30)31-38; PM Psalm 73
Gen. 43:1-15; 1 Cor. 7:1-9; Mark 4:35-41
Today we celebrate the Feast of David of Wales. (See below.)
David’s Reflections
Bonnie Raitt sings these lines in one of her songs, “Shadow of Doubt”:
As I try to make some sense
Of this world I’m up against
Well I know my best defense is your love
When the struggle gets insane
And the lesson’s full of pain
Keep me calling out your name with love. *
Jesus’ companions were calling out his name in the incident we read about today. Jesus was sleeping on a cushion in the stern while his disciples’ fought to stay afloat in a gale on the Sea of Galilee. (Do we get a hint here that Jesus was not a light sleeper?) They awoke him; he rebuked the storm, calling for peace. Suddenly, they were adrift on totally calm waters.
The boat symbol speaks to us at so many levels—our church experience, our vocational and relational worlds, our inner world. Does it strike you that nothing happens to us but that it also happens to Jesus? Were that boat to have sunk, Jesus would have gone down with them. As it was, he was being tossed on the same waves as they. (Someone once quipped that Jesus was God’s Son and could not have drowned. Well, he WAS executed, and he was a human being sharing our vulnerability. So, I would say to that quip, “Really!!”.)
Bonnie Raitt’s lyric speaks of a life of struggle and pain that threatens to overwhelm. No better way to symbolize that than a sinking boat in a gale. Perhaps the disciples had exhausted every other option before calling Jesus to wakefulness. His response leads the reader to believe that they perhaps should have ridden out the storm. Or, perhaps he was looking for a more faith-filled response than, “Do you not care that we are perishing?”.
When the storms have us at the point of sinking, we might join our voices with theirs in that very same question, “Do you not care, Jesus, that I am sinking?”. We might get the same response, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”. Does Jesus mean that they and we should have known by now that he both cares and has the ability to express that care in action?
When the storm keeps pummeling us, remembering that may help. Of course Jesus cares. He cares enough to be in the same boat with us. With him sharing our boat, we will not be lost. The boat may suffer damage, and we may get seasick, but Jesus will share each moment with us. Will knowing that and trusting it keep our fears at a manageable level?
What is it that keeps us calling out his name above the wind and the waves? According to Bonnie’s prayer, “Keep me calling out your name with love,” it is Jesus himself who lurks behind our desperate prayers. Could it be that our desire to cry out to God and even the energy for it comes from God? Had Jesus not been in that boat, they could not have called to him for help. His presence evoked their cries.
Consider this short poem from Antonio Machado.
13
Mankind owns four things
That are no good at sea--
Rudder, anchor, oars,
And the fear of going down.+
*Bonnie Raitt, CD “Longing in Their Hearts” (Capital Records, 1994)
+Antonio Machado, "Fourteen Poems," in Times Alone, trans. Robert Bly (Wesleyan UP, 1983), p. 113.
Collect of the Day, The Second Sunday in Lent
O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 218)
Collect for Friday of Week 2 in Lent
Grant, O Lord, that as your Son Jesus Christ prayed for his enemies on the cross, so we may have grace to forgive those who wrongfully or scornfully use us, that we ourselves may be able to receive your forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Lesser Feasts and Fasts, p. 42)
Today we celebrate the Feast of David of Wales (died ca 600 CE).
Collect of the Feast of David of Wales
Almighty God, who called your servant David to be a faithful and wise steward of your mysteries for the people of Wales: Mercifully grant that, following his purity of life and zeal for the Gospel of Christ, we may, with him, praise you both here on earth and also in your everlasting kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for Fridays
Lord Jesus Christ, by your death you took away the sting of death: Grant to us your servants so to follow in faith where you have led the way, that we may at length fall asleep peacefully in you and wake up in your likeness; for your tender mercies' sake. Amen. (BCP, 123)
A Collect for Quiet Confidence
O God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be our strength: By the might of your Spirit lift us, we pray, to your presence, where we may be still and know that you are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 832)
A Prayer for Light
O Lord God Almighty, as you have taught us to call the evening, the morning, and the noonday one day; and have made the sun to know its going down: Dispel the darkness of our hearts, that by your brightness we may know you to be the true God and eternal light, living and reigning for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 110)
A Collect for Mission
Merciful God, creator of all the peoples of the earth and lover of souls: Have compassion on all who do not know you as you are revealed in your Son Jesus Christ; let your Gospel be preached with grace and power to those who have not heard it; turn the hearts of those who resist it; and bring home to your fold those who have gone astray; that there may be one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 280)
Daily Office Gospel, Mark 4:35-41
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ 36And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ 39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ 41And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’
Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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