By
Beth DeCristofaro
The
Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said: Who shut within doors
the sea, when it burst forth from the womb; when I made the clouds
its garment and thick darkness its swaddling bands? (Job 38:1,
8-9)
(Jesus)
woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!”
The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, “Why
are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”
(4:39-40)
Piety
Jesus,
Brother and Lord, reveal to me my misconception that I am director of
my life. Help me to appreciate and accept that by joining you on
your way to the cross you will make me into your mover and shaker,
moved by you to shake this world and shaped by you to build your
Kingdom.
Study
What
happened to Job was pretty awful and it sure wasn’t fair! God
addresses Job in today’s passage with language that is absolute,
startlingly beautiful and also personal. The Divine Creator speaks
of storm, sea, darkness which to us are essential elements in nature
and also serve as iconic symbols of eternity and uncontrollable
power. To God, however, they are as infants, delivered from God’s
own eternal body and protectively, lovingly swathed like a mother
wraps her vulnerable baby. God set all creation in motion including
and nourishing his beloved humankind. And all, storm, sea, darkness,
living creatures are at His beck and call: (Jesus) woke up,
rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!”
We,
like Job, are not really the movers and shakers of our own lives.
God set limits on the sea on Job and also on you and me. Our earthly
influence is so very ephemeral. Jesus’ embrace of full humanness
and his acceptance of suffering unto death have made us movers and
shakers within God’s kingdom, should we accept His invitation.
Richard Rohr in from
Eager
to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi
states: “The Crucified revealed to the world that the real power
that changes people and the world is an inner authority that comes
from people who have lost, let go, and are re-found on a new level”.
… Rohr uses the example of St. Francis and St. Claire saying “They
let go of all fear of suffering; all need for power, prestige and
possessions; any need for their small self to be important; and came
to know something essential--who they really were in God and thus who
they really were.”
Job
understood that he was very weak yet prized by God who reminds him
that suffering and limitation is part of God’s creatures. The
disciples pondered “Who then is this whom even wind and sea
obey?” Can we also accept that God loves us and find in a
unity with Jesus, broken and poured out? He is poured out for us
even when loved ones die as did Job’s children. Jesus was broken
on the cross to save us from final, eternal death even as we lose
ourselves to addiction or hold stifling jobs. He stills the waves in
our lives by navigating our boat right with us.
Action
When
have I perceived Jesus standing powerfully and serenely amid the
crashing surf swamping my boat? He will give me that faith. God
doesn’t need me but God wants me, He wants us. Give thanks for
God’s abundant mercy.
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