We live in a calm part of the universe; there are no exploding solar systems too near us. Marilynne Robinson says in an essay, it’s as if we lived in a city submerged in a boiling raging sea, but the city is strangely, almost magically becalmed. The city is completely under water, but does not settle on the seabed. We live in a part of the universe where life is possible, where we are possible, and, indeed, we are here but there is a certain amount of natural turbulence. This is usually local: avalanches, volcanic eruptions, storms at sea, but at the moment we are experiencing a virus which has gone round the world which has brought death and misery to many people.

In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus and the disciples are caught up in a storm at sea. They are crossing the sea in a boat when the wind starts to blow and the waves start to roll. While this is happening Jesus is asleep in the stern of the boat. The disciples are amazed that he could be asleep while all this is going on. They wake him up and say “Lord, do you not care, we are going down.” He calms the storm, but berates their lack of faith. We are part of a Creation which is just given, not explained. Some say we’ll be able to explain it all one day; more and more people are saying now this is unlikely. God created a world in which we emerged. Let’s trust He knows why, and one day He’ll tells us, and we will understand what we are too limited to understand now.

Kind Regards.

Fr Maurice