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Open Bible
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The Bible and the Sea
"The Bible and the Sea" is the name of a small
group of persons who meet regularly on board of a ship to discuss
about the texts proposed by the liturgy of the day. They paid
special attention to the relationship of Jesus with the sea.
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For instance, one sees Jesus sending his disciples to sea
after the multiplication of the loafs (Jn, 6, 31-47). Jesus stayed
aside, leaving his disciples alone in the storm petrified: they
did not recognize him when he came back to them, in an unusual
way. We, personally, have observed that fear can make us lose
all our reasoning. Instead, confidence (in oneself, in another,
in God) can allow us to do much more than we imagine, even "walking
on water"! |
In other parts of the Gospel, we see Jesus taking care
of himself. He asks of his disciples to have at his disposal
a boat to avoid to be crashed by the crowd. He lays down a cushion
up the front of the boat and even sleeps during the storm, an
indication that he is really tired and that he has total confidence
in the crew.
Could it be us, the crew of today, in whom Jesus trusts
to guide the ship of his good news in spite of the winds and
the storms? To navigate this ship with intelligence and efficacy,
the group thought about the saying of Catherine Chabot, an experienced
navigator, who sailed around the world, alone and without help
in the Vendee Globe sailing race. She said: "Fight with
the sea not against it". Such an expression can be found
in the Bible, about the struggle of Job with God (Gen. 32, 25).
Job fights the whole night with God not against Him. Behind these
little words," with, against" a certain idea
about the notion of confrontation is showing. To fight with,
does not necessary mean an opposition of a power against another
power, but a knowledge of how to use the power of the other and
to take part with it, like the surfers do with the waves. It
is also to show some respect for the opponent and to know that
if you totally win you also will lose a partner, who allows you
to exist and to built yourself even if he is opposing to you.
In front of a raging sea, or in front of God who could
not be seen without dying, humans are paralyzed with fear. Jesus
comes to pacify our inner tempests: "Why are you so afraid?
Why are you not confident?". |