Beyond the storm

 Mark 4:35-41

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”  He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

When the storm is stilled

and the seas are calm

What then?

When the disruption eases

and a new normal takes hold

What then?

In all the signs we witnessed

along the way

where we felt despair

or glimpsed hope

how have we been changed

by the journey?

Who will we be

when we leave the boat

and step into new territory

carrying the baggage 

of all that is unfinished 

with us to the other side?

For it is not the end of the journey

but a call to come ashore 

and meet the new challenges 

that await our attention

in the knowledge

that the Jesus who rebukes the wind

and calms the waves

alights with us

on the other side.