Job 3:1, 8-11; 2
Cor 5:14-17; Mk 4:35-41
Once a man approached a Guru, and
said that he wanted to be his disciple and learn from him. The Guru asked him,
"Who are you?" He replied, "I am Peter." The Guru
said, "That is your name. But who are you?" He said, "I am an
engineer." The Guru said, "That is your profession.
But who are
you?" He said, "I am a man." The Guru said, "That is your
gender. But who are you?" The man said, "I do not know." It happens
in our lives too. We do not know who we are.
The Gospel says that in the
evening Jesus was crossing the lake in a boat with his disciples. Then it began
to blow a gale and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost
swamped….. The disciples cried, "Master we are going down." This is
the common complaint of most of us when we are under trial. Our faith
in us falters. Our faith in Jesus falters, and we start doubting about it.
Jesus used just four simple
words to calm the wind and the waves. "Quiet now! Be calm!" The
rebuke is meant for us too; we must believe in ourselves; we must
understand the potential that God has given to us; we must show our
absolute trust and faith in Jesus.
Our history has a lot of stories
of people who refused to give up and showed extraordinary courage in times of
trials.
A schoolboy, Steven Thorpe, was travelling in a Rover
with two friends in February 2008 when a stray horse ran into the path of the
car in front of them.
His friend Matthew Jones, 18, was killed in the accident.
Steven suffered serious injuries to his face, head and arm, and was declared
brain dead two days later.
But Steven Thorpe's parents refused to give up hope –
despite four specialists declaring that the 17-year-old was brain dead.
Convinced they saw a 'flicker' of life as Steven lay in a
coma, John and Janet Thorpe rejected advice to switch off his life support
machine.
They begged for another opinion – and it was a decision
that saved him.
A neurosurgeon found faint signs of brain activity and
two weeks later, Steven woke from his coma. Within seven weeks, he had left
hospital.
In times of trouble the parents were just calm, and
refused to give up.
The story of athlete Glenn
Cunningham who was horribly burned in a schoolhouse fire at the age of 8 is
amazing.
The little country schoolhouse was heated by an
old-fashioned, pot-bellied coal stove. A little boy had the job of coming to
school early each day to start the fire and warm the room before his teacher
and his classmates arrived
One morning they arrived to find
the schoolhouse engulfed in flames. They dragged the unconscious little boy out
of the flaming building more deadly than alive. He had major burns over the
lower half of his body and was taken to a nearby county hospital.
From his bed the dreadfully
burned, semi-conscious little boy faintly heard the doctor talking to his
mother. The doctor told his mother that her son would surely die – which was
for the best, really – for the terrible fire had devastated the lower half of his
body.
But the brave boy didn't want to
die. He made up his mind that he would survive. Somehow, to the amazement of
the physician, he did survive. When the mortal danger was past, he again heard
the doctor and his mother speaking quietly. The mother was told that since the
fire had destroyed so much flesh in the lower part of his body, it would almost
be better if he had died, since he was doomed to be a lifetime cripple with no
use at all of his lower limbs.
Once more the brave boy made up
his mind. He would not be a cripple. He would walk. But unfortunately from the
waist down, he had no motor ability. His thin legs just dangled there, all but
lifeless.
Ultimately through his daily
massages, his iron persistence and his resolute determination, he did develop
the ability to stand up, then to walk haltingly, then to walk by himself – and
then – to run.
Still later in Madison Square
Garden this young man who was not expected to survive, who would surely never
walk, who could never hope to run – this determined young man, Dr. Glenn
Cunningham, ran the world's fastest mile
More than ever human race is
falling under the grip of fear, that drains away all their abilities. We
often do not know what we are, and what our abilities are. To the Apostles who
were fear stricken Jesus said, "Quiet now! Be calm!".
This is the answer to our
problems too. Face everything quietly. Never give up. Trust in us and
trust in God. Make sure that Jesus is in our boat, in the boat of our
soul, and in the boat of our house.
May God bless you.