Reflection for Saturday May 4, 2019: 2nd Week of Easter.

Abstract

The following reflection in the form of a poem-like piece was written in the full context of where today's Gospel reading is found in the sixth chapter of John...|As we bask in Easter light|the persistent and pesky dark voice of fear|buzzes in our ears like summer-time mosquitoes.|Our boot-strap mentality and fervent swatting is exhausting.|FEAR.|Fear of...fill in the blank.|Hunger.|Loneliness.|Death.|Rejection.|Loss of control.|What is yours?|We are like the people pursuing Jesus -|famished, fatigued and fixated.|Our fear disorients and drains us.|Up the mountain he goes.|We are close behind.|Jesus senses our hunger for hope.|A great feast-like feeding follows|on the well-trodden heels|of his miraculous words of gratitude.|Further up the mountain he goes.|Our bellies now full,|we join the disciples in the boat|as they cross dark waters|and the storms arrive.|Storms of...fill in the blank.|A shocking diagnosis.|The death news of a loved one.|Loss of a job.|Fracturing in a relationship.|What is yours?|As the ground beneath us shifts and swirls,|winds that carry the familiar voice of fear whip up.|Our hands grasp to the side of life's vessel|in both desperation and determination.|Those same hands are calloused from all that rowing.|Rowing through the storms of life.|Just then, our tired eyes catch a glimpse|of a familiar figure nearby.|It is Jesus.|There, in the midst of the storm|and the fatigue|and the fear is...|JESUS.|Can you sense him nearby?|"It is I."|"Do not be afraid."|Can we accept his bold command|when everything around us tirelessly tries to say the opposite?|Fear is all too familiar...|...but, so too is our friend Jesus.|When we hear his voice|and heed his command|amidst the storms of life|we will suddenly find ourselves|on the safe and sturdy ground of shore...|...basking in the Easter light that breaks there.