How to be alive: courage to be

Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid

Matthew 14: 27

Spend some time with Matthew 14: 22-33. Jesus walks on the sea towards the disciples in the boat being battered by the waves and the wind, and says to them:

“Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid”.

They are frightened but Peter answers Jesus:

“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water”.

In your imagination – as you face what it is that causes you anxiety or fear – speak Peter’s words to God.

Lord, if it is you…?

Is it the good voice of God?

Does it lead to life?

Am I willing to check this voice out with a trusted soul-friend? Is it congruent with the Jesus of the gospels?

We are created to be partners in a dialogue: a “dialogue of salvation”
(John Paul II)

command….

Can I face the fact that I cannot do this?

Can I mourn my limitations, and accept them?

Am I willing to recognize my creature-liness, my inability to take the next step (that will-power isn’t enough)?

Grace is both gift and response: gift and gratitude: God’s YES to us and humanity’s YES to God.

me….

Am I willing to face and take responsibility for my life?

Am I prepared to be stretched and challenged here?

“God’s first gift to me is to be able to say ‘I am’”
St. Augustine

to come to you….

Can I see beyond changing the circumstances of my life and recognize I am being offered a relationship with God…

an encounter with God which will become the pearl of great price and which will satisfy my soul’s hunger?

But am I willing to take the next step?

“I learn by going where I have to go”
Theodore Roethke

on the water….

Am I able to see that the only way forward is the way through…

(not over, or around)…

the pain, the darkness?

“light over the darkness is the anti-Christ:
light through the darkness is the Christ”
(an ancient saying)

The images in this post are oil paintings by Karen Gunderson, who painstakingly reproduces the shadows and light that play on the surface of water. Gunderson states “Using black paint to paint the images and using the light to show the forms becomes an experience. It includes the viewer, the body of the viewer and the movement of the body of the viewer. I want my painting to be an experience… a physical experience as well as an emotional and intellectual one.”

In the documentary God’s Greatest Hits, pastor and gospel recording artist Wintley Phipps says, “‘Wade in the Water,’ to me, . . . means people who are afraid of moving forward, progressing, taking a step, and facing uncertainty—go ahead, wade in the water. Take that step. As terrifying as it may seem at that very moment, it’s gonna be alright, and the miracle we seek is gonna happen.”