...maybe. It's actually easier to believe that inconvenient weather
is a bad thing. At least, that's how the apostles felt when a seemingly
ordinary sail across the Sea of Galilee turned into an event worth recording in
Holy Scripture. Looking at a map of the Sea, it is tempting to ask ourselves,
"What's the worse that can happen?" After all, the "Sea" is
actually a lake.
Arriving at the Galilean shores at this time of the year, however,
one suddenly becomes aware of how turbulent the weather could actually get in
this deceivingly benign basin of water. The rainy weather is certainly
inconvenient for travelers. But for our purposes, it actually provided us with
a new understanding of Luke 8:23, “A squall blew over the lake, and they were
taking in water and were in danger.”
Though the Sea only covers 15 miles in length and 8 miles in width,
its surrounding landscape, beautiful as it is, can alarm any suspecting
fisherman. Add water to the equation, and the whole scene turns into a
geographical recipe for disaster.
Lake Genesaret, as the Sea of Galilee is known in the Gospel of
Luke, plummets 660 feet below sea level. Like walls to a fortress, mountains
surround the region, creating an atmospheric bridge for desert winds to travel,
cool over, and squall down into the lake (our guide has told us
that he has seen the waves rise as high as 9 ft).
Here, we enter the scene where Jesus lay asleep in a little boat
with His unsuspecting apostles. Hence, the dramatic shift of events and the
panicked yelp from the sailors, "Master, master, we are
perishing!" We bear in mind, as sojourners, how often we complain to
God with these same words. The Psalmist would be the first to admit it,
"Awake, O Lord, why do you sleep? Arise, do not reject us for ever! Why do
you hide your face and forget our oppression and misery?" (Psalm 44)
Sound familiar?It should, because it is the story of all human
affairs, and the concern of all human hearts. In fact, it is the main argument
today against the existence of God. Amidst the order we experience in the
world, there also lingers a wave of chaos, and if the weather is bad enough,
the chaos becomes the only reality we get to experience. Are we, in fact, alone
in all of this?
The rain that we pilgrims have experienced in no small amount had
one agenda, to ruin our pilgrimage and leave us cloistered in our rooms.
Well...that's one explanation.
Here's another. Dr. Nagel illuminated for us how rain is actually
symbolic of the blessings of God. It is the source of perpetual fertility in
the land and the wellspring that knows no bounds. It is, in a sense,
complimentary to the presence of a God who takes care of His land and His
people.
It is strange, really, how an explanation can change an experience.
It is almost as if all the events in our lives await translation - and I don't
mean from Arabic to English. There is salvation even in the explanation of
events. That seems to be the stuff of the Biblical world. It is the
world newly explained through God's covenant relationship with mankind.
When we arrived in Tabgha (from the Greek hepta pegon -
or seven springs) to visit the shrines of the Multiplication of the loaves and
the Mensa Christi (or Peter's Primacy), we were drenched with God's blessings.
Literally. Yet, our experience was a joyful one, and in the rawness of real
life situations, we became, and still are becoming, more and more a band of
brothers.
Really, it's not hard to see where Jesus would get the organic
images we read from Scriptures. The area is teeming with life. The irony is
that inconvenient weather is what makes all this possible. To paraphrase what
one of our classmates said in his reflection, "Jesus is being himself in that
boat, resting in the safety of the Father in the midst of a violent
storm." God is being God!
This is a good thing.
On the shores of Galilee we certainly see the divine gardener, and
His thumbs are very green. And in the midst of all the natural beauty that
surrounds us, we finally understand His words a little bit more, "Learn
from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you
that not even Solomon in all His splendor was clothed like one of them"
(Mt. 6:28-29).
So, there is a blessing in all things, if we just let them be what
and who they're supposed to be. We are more ourselves in the trust we have in
the God who gives life and meaning to all things.
