"If you're in a sinking boat--pray and bail, don't pray and cry."
An opening story which is really a modern-day Aesop's fable:
Two frogs fell into a large can of milk one night. The first named Faithless said, "Oh, what's the use of kicking, sooner or later I'm going to drown." So he immediately sank to the bottom and drowned. The second frog named Faithful kept on paddling. He prayed a bit but paddled away hoping that something might come his way. The next morning when the can was opened there was our Faithful frog--sitting proudly on a great pad of butter.
This is a silly story in a way but like Aesop's and other kinds of fables there is a truth about life embedded within it. And I use it because it helps me see at a basic level a very similar kind of truth which was discovered by the disciples in our Gospel today. For while crossing the Sea of Galilee one dark evening, they too were thrown into a life-threatening situation with no clear and obvious way out. They were experienced fishermen, yet this evening they encountered a storm which caused them to be fearful and distraught. They clung to each other not knowing what to do and finally--we are told more out of fear than faith--they sought the help of Jesus, who was of all things asleep at the back of the boat with a cushion under His head.
I believe the perplexity of the disciples in their situation reflects the ongoing tension of life for most of us. For crossing the Sea of Galilee is a lot like living in today's world. We are experienced at living and most of the time the crossing of life's sea is uneventful, sometimes, in fact, it is quite pleasant. But every now and then, usually in the evening, come some fearful storm and high wind which threaten to swamp and overwhelm us. And it is at those times when it seems to us that Jesus is asleep at the back of our lives and we wonder if He really knows what's going on or cares if we perish.
These two stories, the frogs in a pail and the night crossing of the Sea of Galilee, are helpful because they hold up for us the ongoing tension in life between faith and works. Or to put it in the form of a question for us: How much should I trust and depend on God to help me through life and how much should I depend and trust in my own abilities?
Jesus' answer to this question is simple--you do both. As always, He holds faith and works together in tension. He chides His fearful disciples for their lack of faith, saying, "Have you no faith?" For I think the clear implication of the story is that if the disciples trusted enough in His caring presence, they could have gotten on with their work to save the boat and make it to shore.
Then, to make His point, to help them understand this sequence of faith and works, He calmed the storm, which allowed them to get on with their journey to the other side.
We cannot always decide what will happen to us in life. Whether we are thrown into a milk pail or a raging sea or just your normal everyday adversity, wind and water, sickness and disappointment sometimes just happen. But with faith in God's presence, believing that He rides with us, we can choose what will happen in us; how we will take that which life gives us and what we will do about it.
So this morning I'd like to share with you some pointers about faith paddling through life. Since we are neither frogs nor fishermen, and our life is considerably more complex these days, faith paddling needs to be expanded a bit. So I looked to a recent study done by Duke University on what gave people strength in facing life's adversities. Out of this study they came up with eight factors which contributed greatly to emotional and mental stability in the face of adversity. So here they are:
1. Emotionally-stable people are not suspicious or resentful. Nursing a grudge was a major factor contributing to unhappiness and in people's inability to cope.
2. Don't live in the past. An unwholesome pre-occupation with old mistakes or failures leads to depression. And it is very hard to cope when you're depressed. Choose to live your life in the present and keep one eye on the horizon looking for the good things which will come your way.
3. Don't waste time and energy fighting conditions you cannot change. Cooperate with life instead of trying to run away from it. If you're in a sinking boat--pray and bail, don't pray and cry.
4. Force yourself to stay involved with the living world. Resist the temptation to withdraw and become reclusive during periods of emotional stress. Along with prayer there is nothing better than a good friend with whom you can share your life's stuff. If you don't have a friend--go be one!
5. Refuse to indulge in self-pity when life hands you a raw deal. Accept the fact that nobody gets through life without some sorrow and misfortune. In the end it's what you do with it that really counts.
6. Cultivate old-fashioned virtues like love, humor, friendship, compassion, courage and loyalty. They have withstood the tests of experience and time.
7. Do not expect too much of yourself. When there is too wide a gap between self expectation and your ability to meet the goals you have set, feelings of inadequacy are inevitable.
8. Find something bigger than yourself to believe in. Self-centered, inward-looking people seldom have the resources to make it through adversity on their own and score lowest in any tests which measure happiness. We all need a solid place outside of ourselves on which to stand.
There is this story about one worried little fellow who knelt at the side of his bed, closed his eyes and prayed: "God bless Mom, God bless Dad, God bless Grandma, and please take care of yourself, God. 'Cause if anything happens to you, we're all sunk." And that's the truth!
And I'd like to add my own ninth and final point:
9. Keep the faith, and for God's sake and yours, keep paddling.
Amen.
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