One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, “Let us cross to the other side of the lake.” So they set sail, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A squall blew over the lake, and they were taking in water and were in danger. They came and woke him saying, “Master, master, we are perishing!” He awakened, rebuked the wind and the waves, and they subsided and there was a calm. Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?” But they were filled with awe and amazed and said to one another, “Who then is this, who commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey him?”  

In the beginning of the movie “Seabiscuit,” we are aware of three lives, all somehow torn apart by tragedy or hard luck. Charles Howard feels the tragedy of loss, even as he experiences success; Tom Smith, talented in ways that hardly anyone knows, loses what little happiness he has; and Red Pollard has to leave the one thing in his life that he loves dearly, his family. All three seem to be lost in the throes of darkness and despair. Were the storms of society simply thrusting them high and low on the sea of life with absolutely no direction and no end? Or was God directing them?

           
Some Scripture scholars question whether Jesus actually calmed a storm at sea, but whether he did or not, the story is an excellent allegory for meditation. Human beings are surrounded by storms, storms in the form of problems, problems that go by the name of disease, sudden deaths, misguided lives, or tragedies. Sometimes the storms happen to us, sometimes to loved ones, sometimes to our nation and world. There are always storms, always problems.

We want to rush at our God and scream with the Apostles in the boat, “Master we are perishing.” And Jesus answers in a calm voice: “Where is your faith?” The secret for the believer is deepened faith. Jesus tells us that it really does matter to him that we have storms in our lives, and so, he takes the time to calm them, saying that it is our faith that enables us to understand the things that happen to us. Yes, even the tragedies are working toward a good end for us and for our loved ones.

The person of faith will study the lives of the three principal people in the movie “Seabiscuit,” and see focus, a focus that eventually leads all three to one remarkable animal. But it is an animal that is able to function only with the gifts that each man brings to the animal’s training. Understanding that God was directing all along, the person of faith sees three men, each with his own storm, come together to accomplish not only an adventure, but good lives as well.

Further, the person of faith also sees that everyone’s life, no matter what the storm, finds direction because God is always working with us, giving us the grace we need to lead good lives here, and have eternal life afterwards.                      

THOUGHT
PRAYER

Good and gracious God, there are many storms in our lives, storms that cause damage and destruction. But if we become people of faith, as your Son tells us, we will be able to understand those storms and problems. Give us the grace to understand them a little more. Be with us, we pray. 

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©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America