From where I sit, high and dry, I can look out the window to the Hudson River. The wind is blowing from the north right now and I’ve never seen such waves on the river, the North River as it used to be called. Rolling whitecaps and a rushing surge, crashing into the buoy and heading into the bridge. From this distance it is magnificent, but it would terrifying to be in a boat in its midst.
It makes me wonder how to pray through a storm. Of course, I pray for the safety of those in low-lying areas and the wisdom of our leaders who must make decisions like whom to evacuate and when to close down roads and bridges. I pray for those whose electricity lines are threatened and those who lose power. You never know how dependent you are on power until it’s gone.
I pray for the rescue workers who are on call during a storm and the people who have left their houses, crowding into schools and churches, calling on the good will of their neighbors. I pray there is enough food and water and batteries and flashlights and gas. I pray that roofs hold and sump pumps work. And I pray for peace for all those with frayed nerves. It is hard to wait in line at a crowded supermarket and not panic. Or to log on to another weather report and wonder how long, Lord, how long.
When the disciples were on a boat with their Lord and a great storm arose, the waves tossing the boat so that it would soon be swamped, they looked to Jesus, who was asleep in the stern on a cushion. They woke him up and said, like we do when we pray in fear, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
He had only to turn to the wind and the sea and rebuke them, saying, “Peace! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was dead calm. Then he turned to the disciples and said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”
So at the end of all those prayers I ask for some faith. I know how fortunate I am to be high and dry, but at any minute, the lights could go off, the windows could fly open, the water from the faucet could slow to a drip. I could be like someone in a boat out on those terrifying waves. Isn’t it enough to listen for those words, “Peace! Be still!”? Isn’t it important to remember that God is still in the wind and the waves and is in the stern of any tossing boat, ready to be awakened to calm our turbulent spirits?
Peace, wherever you are.
