Finding Peace in the Storm…

It amazes me what you can find when you explore God’s creation and actually slow down enough to observe the treasures of God in your midst. How many people walked by this little flowering plant growing in the sand at Grayton Beach? I almost did… but it caught my eye and without hesitation, I took out my iPhone and snapped the picture.

I never know what is going to happen with the pictures that I take after I have taken them. Some will sit on my computer in a folder for years before I rediscover them as I contemplate Scripture and Blogging. One of the requirements of Visio Divina (Sacred Seeing) is to slow down and contemplate what is before you. Its cousin, Lectio Divina (Sacred Reading) centers around the individual slowing down and pondering a section of Scripture, allowing it to take root in your heart and speak to you.

What intrigues me about this particular photo is how something so delicate can last in a sandy environment where the winds can blow and the rains can come down hard. Like the plant life (above) Denise and I saw growing in the rugged area of Ireland known as The Burren, this little flowering plant on the beach seems to hang on despite the overwhelming odds against it.

Mark 4:35-41 is the Lectionary Gospel reading for this Sunday, the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost. It is especially poignant as so many people (including me) struggle with the news coming out of Charleston, South Carolina. There is a literal storm on Social Media and in the Blogging world as people try to deal with the tragic shooting death of nine African American worshipers who were viciously gunned down at a prayer service on Wednesday evening at Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.

I can’t help but reflect on another tragic act of violence perpetrated against my African American sisters and brothers in 1963. On Sunday, September 15, 1963, just as the choir was putting on their robes for worship, a bomb set by the KKK exploded.  Addie Mae Collins (age 14), Carol Denise McNair (age 11), Carole Robertson (age 14), and Cynthia Wesley (age 14) were killed in the blast and 22 others were injured. The sermon topic for that Sunday? “A Love That Forgives”… Dr Martin Luther King, Jr called this act of violence, “”one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity.” And now, fifty-two years later, in another church, another vicious and tragic crime was perpetrated against humanity.

This senseless killing of fellow human beings must stop! “Black Lives Matter” is a mantra that has been shouted from the roof tops over and over and over again. I add my voice to that cry… along with these words… ALL Lives Matter! Regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnic background… ALL lives matter!

I seriously do feel like we are in the midst of a horrific storm quite literally of biblical proportions… and I find myself, like the disciples in the boat, crying out to the Lord, “do you not care if we perish?” (Mark 4:38) After a full day of ministry that included teaching about the kingdom, Jesus was sound asleep on a cushion in the stern of a boat as the group traversed the water. A storm whipped up, as they often did, without warning. The boat was in danger of being swamped and yet it appeared that Jesus was asleep. I have been on a lake when a storm has come up suddenly and it is scary. When it is you and your canoe against the wind and the driving rain, you can become easily overwhelmed. So I can relate to the fact that the disciples were overwhelmed and scared to death.

The events of the past 24-hours have been a storm of another sort. Sadly, there have been too many storms fueled by hatred in the past several years and the number of victims is growing. So I find myself reading Mark 4:35-41 a bit differently this year. In addition to placing myself in the midst of the storm with the disciples as Saint Ignatius teaches us to pray with scripture, I find myself in the storm with another set of disciples… those disciples include you, dear reader… We are in the midst of a storm and crying out to the Lord. “Lord, do you not care if we perish?”

I believe that the Lord does care… Jesus cares very much for those who are perishing like the nine lives taken in Charleston and the four in Birmingham… Jesus cares very much for all who die senselessly due to warfare, hatred, greed, and a host of other causes in this world. I also believe that Jesus cares about the perpetrators of such hatred and violence. I’m not there yet… but I know that I will be… and I know that others will reach that place too… that place where the words of the Lord, “Peace! Be still!” will calm the storm raging within and without…

May that peace be found in the hearts of those who grieve… may that peace be found in the heart of the one who pulled the trigger… may that peace be found in his family… may that peace be found in the community… Dona Nobis Pacem… Grant us Peace… Dona Nobis Pacem…