Approaching the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost St. James - Westwood's Weekly Epistle - June 20th
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Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" (Mark 4: 39-40)
The theme for this year's diocesan summer camps is " Thy Kingdom Come." These three words reside at the core of "The Lord's Prayer." We spent a great deal of time at Family Camp this past weekend pondering and praying about the theme of where and how is God Reign already present and emerging among us? Possibilities included spending time with close friends, helping someone in need, and many others.
The disciples in the boat with Jesus during the storm on the Sea of Galilee certainly observed one characteristic of God's reign: calmness in the midst of terrifying chaos. Their lives were in immediate peril, even as their rabbi, teacher, and close friend remained as cool as the other side of the pillow. He literally and spiritually saved their lives. Their terror is not far removed from our own. We all call upon God to rescue us from trials and tribulations. That's another key statement within The Lord's Prayer. We beckon God to abide with us in the most critically frightening times of our lives.There is hardly if ever any evidence of panic in Jesus' life. He is confidently present to life's circumstances regardless of stormy or sunny conditions. The question for us then becomes: do we have enough faith to abide in our faith in Jesus even as we strive not to be drowned by our anxieties or swallowed by the depths of doubt?
David Ewart offers a key entering more calmly into God's realm as a faithful Christian. He writes: "The real miracle of this story is NOT Jesus calming the storm. The real miracle is Jesus' calm while the storm is raging. His calm is not simply the suppression of  fear. His calm arises from within his faith; from within his trust in God's caring - no matter what the actual circumstances. Thus, the moral of this story is NOT: run to Jesus when you are in a crisis and he will make the storm go away. Rather the moral is: run to Jesus when you are in crisis and learn from him the source of his calm."
Climbing into the boat with Jesus means we're in for a rough ride at times. The waves of life's Sea of Galilee are rarely as calm as we would like for them to be. The coming of God's Kingdom or Reign means reciting the Lord's Prayer more often than we think as well as striving to believe in what we say. Our world becomes more Christ-like with each day that we forgive someone who has hurt us even as we offer thanks for God-given graces in the form of food, friendship, and faith in The One who dwells among us.
I hope that you will gain a deeper sense of becoming a resident of God's Kingdom throughout this summer. Sitting by the campfire at Procter after a long day is one good place to observe the calm and loving presence of our Lord who with the Creator and Holy Spirit neither slumbers nor sleeps. May our worship services and your circle of friendly disciples here in St. James' boat be a place of refuge and nourishment too.
Blessings Along The Way,
Jim+
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