Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?

 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was.  And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.  And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"  And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!" 

- Mark 4:35-41

 Also He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed?  Is it not to be set on a lampstand?  For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."  Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear.  With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."   And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.  For the earth yields crops by itself:  first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.  But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."  Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God?  Or with what parable shall we picture it?  It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade."  And with many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.  But without a parable He did not speak to them.  And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.

On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was.  And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.  And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"  And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"  Power over the elements is another sign of divinity at work, that Christ is divine.  At the same time, the fact that Christ needs sleep is a sign of His full humanity.  My study bible says that, as in this case with the disciples, God often permits difficulties into our lives in order to perfect and strengthen our faith.  The image of Christ and the disciples in the boat is a traditional illustration of the Church itself.  My study bible says that God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see his protection more clearly.  Christ's rebuke of the storm is also an illustration of His calming the tempests in the human soul.

I'm always struck by the quality of this passage (and the one that will follow), how in some sense it is like the "adventures" in the Greek myths, such as that of Odysseus or Jason.  The disciples set off, following Christ's commands, across the sea.  This is the Sea of Galilee, which several of His disciples know very well as they are fishermen whose home is Capernaum in Galilee.  But this journey is different; here they are asked to cross the sea into strange territory, unfamiliar to them.  This, I find, is a kind of perfect parallel to the spiritual life, where God will lead us to growth of both our faith and thereby enhanced capacities for virtue, such as strength or courage.  It's an odd, sort of paradoxical reality, but the more we depend on God, the greater our capacity for manifesting the strengths that come with faith.  All tests and difficulties seem somehow "designed" so that such an outcome of greater faith and enhanced virtue -- particular that of courage or strength -- is possible.  Just like the apostles in today's reading, we may struggle through terrifying challenges, that ramp up our emotions and bring out even our deepest, most frightening fears and needs we think we have.  But through the work of God, we somehow come out the other side, with something more to us, a greater independence of "the world" and what we thought we needed, and a greater dependence upon God, upon Christ.  The world of psychology reveals that we may have deep-seated fears within us; today's reading teaches us that these are only human, part of the experience of human beings in the world.  But there is more, there is a faith that connects us with something deeper, bigger, transcendent -- and which runs through all things.  There is a thread which we need to follow, and Christ's words we need to reflect upon, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"   We mustn't forget that these disciples are on the journey of a lifetime.  Once they become His disciples, each new challenge will be a challenge to their faith.  One of them will succumb to his own disastrous impulses and betray Christ.  But the "adventure" that starts here is one that goes through their lifetimes.  Their struggles will become greater, and the rewards and outcomes also greater -- bigger than the lives of a handful of men from Galilee, including a few fishermen, could have conceivably become by worldly standards.  Yet, here it is, here is their fear, and Christ with them.  Let us remember this picture when we feel terrified if we are confronted with our deepest fears, and know that Christ is with us, and will see us to a different destiny than one we could imagine for ourselves, even through the challenges, even when everything else seems to let us down or abandon us.