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More than getting an answer in times of trouble,
prayer is a loving attention to the Beloved. It
is a stance of trust, confidence, and love,
trusting that the Lord knows our needs and will
answer with just compassion. A heart in love
knows how to hear the tiny whispering sounds.
Like the mother busy around the house who hears
the slightest whimper of her sleeping infant,
prayer is hearing the whisper of God and taking
notice.
One with a
true heart for God and a mature desire to pray
will learn to hear this whisper, and thrill at
its hearing. Such a one will also obey what they
hear. If not the first time, as one matures,
obeying becomes the satisfaction of pleasing the
Lord, and receiving what he has offered.
Even so,
seasoned followers of Jesus will often find
themselves resisting what they hear from Jesus.
Often what is heard is not believed or is hard
to understand. This is the experience of the
disciples who see Jesus coming to them on the
water. They are in a crisis of not
understanding, so they resist and succumb to
fear.
The storm on
the lake is more reflective of the inner storm
going on in the minds and hearts of the
disciples. They are still in awe and confusion
over the abundance of bread that fed so many.
The tumult of the waves and the resistance of
the wind is a reflection of what’s going on in
their hearts. They believe in Jesus and they
want to follow him, but his words and actions
have become so mysterious they can only resist
with befuddled confusion.
For his part, Jesus is teaching the disciples
how to see and live in the spiritual
consciousness of God’s presence. This is a
difficult journey to make. The disciples are
crossing the lake, crossing |
over to the
other side of faith if you will. It is a journey
they have never made before, and there is no map
to point the
way. Jesus is the way and they must learn to
read the signs of God’s presence and power that
they experience in him without resistance or
fear. They presume to be seeing a ghost, when
they are seeing the spiritual presence and power
of Jesus who comes to their rescue. Knowing
their fear and confusion, Jesus calls them to
faith. “Take courage, it is I. Do not be
afraid”. To say, “it is I” is to say, “I Am”.
This is the name of God.
With the fog
of fear clearing, and hearing the words and
voice of Jesus they find more firm footing and
exclaim: “Truly, you are the Son of God”. This
journey of crossing over to a deeper faith is
one we must all make. More than praying only in
times of crisis or trouble, we are called to
know and recognize the presence and the power of
Jesus through an active, daily faith and trust
in him. Then we will hear his gentle whisper in
our hearts and we will no longer cry out in
fearful unknowing.
I thank all
those who took raffle tickets and encourage all
others to join us. Let’s make this a successful
expression of our faith community and our
confidence in the Lord.
Father John Esper
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