Who
is this Man?
Eventide
approached, ending a perfect day of feasting
from
satiated teaching
Set in the
perfect classroom, serenaded by the waves
and
soft breeze of Galilea
A witness of
miracles and love,
a
final hope for many lowly hearts reaching
It was
magnificence in all its glory,
a
wonder for one as simple as me
He turned to
us and informed us that it was time
to
pick up and prepare to depart
It was time
to leave this people.
Time
to follow His footsteps into a nearby ship
Intending to
seek out those in need of miracles and hope
which
the sea kept apart
To me, it
was another basic journey,
an
ordinary uneventful trip
Obediently,
we embarked and helped one another
as
we followed Him on board
The sail was
set.
My
focus became the shadows of land we made out in the distance
The master
took rest at the back of the vessel
in
order to have His strength restored
Fatigued by
the work and service of the day,
He
fell asleep with little resistance
The silence
of the night touched my soul
even
so it seemed nothing in dark would I fret
A warm glow
emanated from the small village
we
sailed toward on the other side
I watched,
wandering in abstract thoughts,
going
as far and beyond as my mind would let
Partly
absentminded to the loud slapping at the side
by
the awakening tide
My thoughts
gone into the depths,
I
never noticed when or how the tide took a wrong turn
The breeze
turned into a strong blow,
accompanied
by a howl as shrill as a tempest
Pressing its
strength against the waves
that
even in the dark I could see the whole sea churn
Rocking to
and fro, I was nearly thrown into sea
in
this dreadful state of unrest
As the waves
beat down consistently against the ship,
it
sank deeper, and I beheld
The weight
had burdened it so greatly
that
it was nearly plunged down into the deep
Under this
realization, A great sense of panic
within
my breast quickly swelled
I looked
anxiously back at the master in silent pleading,
yet
He remained asleep
Everything I
could think of I tried
to
save our weighed down vessel and remain afloat
One thing
after another would appear to succeed,
but
proved ultimately to fail
Whatever
pride I had within myself
in
such a circumstance did this storm demote
The control
slipped out of my hands
leaving
me helpless on such an overwhelming scale
Slipping and
balance checking, I fell to my knees.
In
complete despair and in my fear
My hands
reached out to the sleeping master to grasp His arm.
His
whole body did I shake.
“Master,” I
called to Him in my frenzied state.
“Dost
thou not care that our death is come near?”
The
commotion muffled my cry,
yet
somehow, some way, He heard, for He was soon awake
He looked in
my eyes and I knew immediately
that
He must have seen my panic
He arose and
touched me encouragingly
as
He observed the tumultuous scene
From above us
the sail had been shredded,
from
below our feet waves grown titanic
I looked on
Him and in amazement
I
saw His face in the dark still calm and serene
I could not
explain the extent of the power
that
I saw in that outstretched arm
And the
commanding strength in His voice
as
I heard him call to the impeding tempest
Something
unexpected occurred within me,
a
tender prick and a sudden alarm
For as the
calm began to settle in waves and sky,
so
did the fears within my chest
The stars
appeared, the waves grew gentle, the winds diminished,
and
the ship became still and calm
The
surroundings so still, I could hear our breathing
and
the gentle ripples from the wave
No more
within me could I feel that panic
which
caused my despair and unspoken qualm
Instead my
heart felt light with gratitude and joy
that
for me my friend awoke to save
I watched as
He slowly turned to look on me
and
in his gentle tone of speech
A rebuke,
which pained me more than if He’d raised His voice:
“Where
is thy faith?” did He inquire
The question
sank into depths within me
that
I knew not existed or could man reach
A spark
igniting within my soul as I reflect,
an
empowered ambient fire
For just
moments ago was I consumed
from
the bonds of my overpowering fear
Incapable of
helping myself,
afraid
that I was nearing the end of my life
And yet in
an even shorter moment He spoke
and
all elements turned calm and clear
No
commotion, no fuss, no final chaotic move,
no
challenge or unyielding strife
Amazed at
the execution of power that came forth
from
those simple outstretched hands
That look
like mine, but somehow able to settle
the
raging waves of the enraged sea
Beyond the known
physical world,
past
all mortal limitations their power expands
Even
reaching within my soul and casting out my weakness
which
bound and enslaved me
How could
one obtaining this power and command
be
seen as an ordinary man?
Spending all
His time teaching, guiding, healing, blessing,
and
uplifting our faint spirits
Called to
ensure that all hope and blessings
may
become ours through Heavenly Father’s Plan
That we
through Him our eternal lives may preserve and see Him
at
His throne where He sits
Commentary:
Poem inspired by yet another beloved bible story about the time when Jesus calmed the troubled waters. I was thinking about the story and imagining what was observed while it was happening as I like to do when I read. This story is told many times, and it's a fun story to tell, but it never really got personal to me until this time when I sat down and really thought about it. What a roller coaster ride it must have been to spend one moment facing death to the ultimate joy and wonder of witnessing your life being saved from powers you didn't understand entirely. The point of this story is not as much of the physical event of the miracle as it is of the teachings and lessons we learn from it.
This brings up the question of the point of miracles. It seems to me that the world teaches that miracles only result after a declaration or expression of faith, a type of reward for it. As I review these stories, this one in particular, where the exercise of faith is not strong, yet the miracle happens anyway. Miracles, I conclude, do not exist as a reward, but also there to teach, to witness, and to testify of God. The most wonderful part of this story is that even though faith was waning, He acted. That should be a great comfort to us all.
