The eye of the storm

THE EYE OF THE STORM 

 

I can’t be the only one who feels like the earth is spinning off its axis. We’re told it’s a post factual world now. What does that mean ? It means that you can’t rely on anything anyone says. It could be lies or at best spin. Getting your facts straight is no longer important. What counts is perception, how it comes over, how it looks. I guess ‘fake news’ is a natural result. The trouble is we’re all so gullible. We take what people tell us at face value and don’t check it out. People no longer recognize good old fashioned satire and assume that comedy is not commentary but the plain truth. Help ! What is happening to us ? We Brits had Boris Johnson and the blatant lie painted on a bus taking us to Brexit and the Americans had Trump whose every action sets off yet more reactions all round the world. And now we’re in a maelstrom of reactions, one thing setting off another, tit for tat, each more extreme than the last. It’s like Pandora’s box has been opened - hold on, aren’t there a lot of boxes opened in the Apocalypse of St John, letting out all kinds of mayhem ? No one said it could be like this. Or did they ? It’s like all hell has broken loose and set the world spinning out of control, stirring up a global storm. It’s a time when whatever we do could make things worse so we feel helpless and just a bit like we’re living in a madhouse. But what is the safest place in a storm ? It’s in the eye, the still point at its center. I remember when a major storm passed over us a few years back. The barometer plummeted. All nature held its breath. The calm was tangible, The eye of the storm was passing over us and we could only wait. 

There is a time for doing nothing, for watching and waiting. And perhaps this is it. Luckily we escaped the worst. But I’ve never forgotten that eerie calm. And thinking of it I am reminded of a passage in Saint Luke ; His mother and his brothers came looking for him but they could not get to him because of the crowd. He was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are outside and want to see you.’ But he said, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice.’ It happened that one day he got into a boat with his disciples and said, ‘Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.’ So they set out. And as they sailed, he fell asleep. When a squall of wind came down on the lake the boat started shipping water and they found themselves in danger. So they went to rouse him, saying, ‘Master, Master! We are lost !’ Then he woke up and rebuked the wind and the rough water and they subsided and it was calm again. He said to them, ‘Where is your faith ?’ They were awestruck and astounded and said to one another, ‘Who can this be who gives orders even to wind and waves and they obey him ?’ (Luke 8, 19-25) 

 Many years ago, during an Ignatian retreat I meditated that text for the first time. And I found myself a little girl about seven years old who adored Jesus so much I just followed him everywhere. He couldn’t have shaken me off if he wanted. The crowds were very demanding. He had given all He could and now, exhausted. he desperately needed to rest. So he got on the boat and the disciples set sail, leaving the crowds behind. They didn’t notice the little girl, still clinging to the master’s tunic. And Jesus himself gave no sign that he had seen me. Being of no account, I had escaped notice by everybody. I was just there. And the poor man, who himself had said he had nowhere to lay his head, he just flopped where he could, laying his head on a pile of rope, a bit of tarpaulin over him to keep off the wind and spray. And all unnoticed, I curled up beside him, nestling close. The next thing I knew, the disciples were on top of us. They were panic stricken, yelling and screaming and trying to shake Jesus awake. The wind whipped round us, the boat rocked and waves were coming over the side. Water was slopping everywhere. But I wasn’t afraid. I knew that so long as I was with Jesus everything would be alright. Still exhausted, he stirred himself and rose to deal with their panic. Scrambling to his side, I held onto his tunic and slid behind him through the water to the side of the boat. Of course he stilled the storm. And of course the disciples were over the moon. It was as if they hadn’t a clue who Jesus really was. He told them off for not having any faith. And then he turned to me for the first time, and he gave a little smile. It was just like he’d winked at me. 

It helps to remember that whatever mayhem is going on in the world, God is the still center of the storm and even if all hell does break out, if we are with him we’ll be alright. God is certainly allowing this mayhem. Perhaps he’s letting things come to a head. We know it has to be before the kingdom comes. But we mustn’t let the storm whipped up by the powers of this world carry us away with it. We must stay constant, trusting in him, watching and waiting. See what’s happening but don’t react. Stay calm. I’m talking to myself here. But perhaps I’m talking to you too. We’re all in the same soup and the soup is our Galilee. But we’re on the boat with Jesus, so ... yeah.