Today's Gospel reading for the Evening Prayer office was very much relevant to my life during these weird days of moving into the post-Covid " normal".
Let me refresh some memories. Today's passage, taken from the 8th chapter of The Gospel of Luke, tells a story of Jesus in a boat with His friends.
It is nighttime. One of those sudden sea storms appears, whipping the boat into a wavy tempest. Understandable, the disciples are frightened. No one wants to get caught unprepared for a storm at sea.
Living on the gorgeous Gulf Coast of Northwest Florida: I know something about the terror of storms. In autumn of 2020 -- in the middle of a pandemic-- Pensacola was surprised by a storm.
It was scary.
What does Jesus, their Teacher & friend do when His companions woke Him with news of a sudden storm? Let's look at the text.
And He woke up and rebuked the wind & the raging waves, they ceased & there was a calm."
There is no doubt in my mind that Year 2020 , the Year of Covid, has seen its share of stormy weather. First there is the " storm" of a deadly, global pandemic. The nation literally shut down as scientists scrambled to make sense of this new virus. The storm of Covid crashed over our society , as people were literally staying safe in homes. As cases climbed , & hospitals became clogged with Covid patients, people started to panic. Toilet paper { of all commodities} became scarce as people rushed to stores and hoarded rolls of Charmin.
Jesus calms our storms, but we modern disciples have access to Him through our relationships with others. Even during the worst of the Covid Pandemic storm, Christians everywhere remained tethered to Jesus while in community. Circumstances of Covid safety made, and still makes safety regulations necessary for gathering in community, but seeing the end of the Covid Storm as more people get their vaccinations, gives me reason for tangible HOPE.
Will life pre-Pandemic return to " normal?" More importantly, should life return to pre-Pandemic status quo?
Author and theologian Matthew Fox says this:
"A pandemic is too important to waste. This pandemic is here to wake us up. To what? To a ' new normal". One that honors the sacredness of the earth and all its life forms. One that honors the divine feminine alongside the sacred masculine ... "
I agree with Mr Fox. For years, humankind has plundered Mother Earth, shamed and defiled the embodied Sacred feminine that is found in all female persons. Too many childre grew up to value being wealthy over kindness.
The storm came. Our Savior who came to Earth to show humans a Way of Love by turning the power structures of His place and time upside down still is calming storms.
We, as His disciples now, are charged with post storm cleanup. Things are different now. None of us who survived the worst of Covid are the same people we were in January 2020. It is my hope & prayer that our " new normal" is a kinder, gentler society.
Amen.
Sarah McCarren
5 May 2021
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