“Why are you so timid?” he exclaimed. “Have you no faith yet?”
after a storm we assess
what’s the damage
what’s a first task
how might we better prepare
how long will it take to recoup
who’s fault was it
who did the heroic
where does this leave us
where do we head from here
when will it be safe enough to trust
when can we laugh about thisafter a storm we forget
the labor of survival
the challenge of protecting love
the pervasiveness of despair
the intersections of harm
the utter loss of trustafter a storm we choose
doubling down on pre-storm stasis
setting up a next muddling through
opening to a fresh breeze
An all too easy read of this has us turning the sense of these two verses (39 and 40) around so that when Jesus is awakened he asks his question about their fright, stands up, flexes his muscles and declaims, “Watch this. QUIET!”
Then we could get to the awe of verse 41 to wrap things up. Hooray for Jesus!!
δειλοί, (deiloi, “Frightened”) is a question of timidity. Apprentice Jesuses have so lost it that they forgot to ask Jesus for a miracle. It is recorded that Jesus just does as Jesus does. This lack of asking for what is needed is as good a definition of a bunch of Mr. Milquetoasts as we are going to get. Timidity, thou art us.
A question of “Faith” brings us back to trust (πίστιν, pistin). The issue of trust is larger than a simple choice of trusting G*D or trusting Jesus. It entails an actual decision and living that out. There are plenty of experiences along the way that indicate we can’t trust our own thinking, much less that of others. This question of trust is a question of discipleship or actual practice of a series of steps intended to arrive at a desired destination. It is here that Buddha’s Path is clearer than Jesus’ Way. The two are related but appeal to different parts of My Journey.
Timidity and Trust assist us in evaluating how we are doing with a changed head and heart. They help clarify one another.
Exercise: Draw a Venn Diagram of Timidity and Trust in your life at the present time. After reflecting on it a bit, draw another of where you would like to be in a week. Repeat weekly until you have reached a helpful balance.