Movement and Tension: Mark 4:35-41

There’s a sense of movement throughout this passage; and a tension between the movement and stillness, which is its opposite.

Movement from day to evening – tension between busyness of day and stillness of evening.
Movement from sea to land – tension between stillness of land and movement of sea.
Movement from crowd to a few – tension between noise of crowd and stillness of a few.
Movement from calm to a storm – tension between safety and survival.
Movement from sleep to wakefulness – tension between panic and calm.
Movement from storm to peace and stillness – tension between fear and faith.
Movement from fear to awe – tension between normal and paranormal.

Life is full of movement and tension, and we are always faced with how we will respond to it. Jesus asked the disciples, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” He obviously sees movement and tension differently to us. Equally obvious is that he understands our fears and lack of faith. But I suspect he wants us to see the movements and tensions of life with his eyes that will cause us to lose our fear because we will be so full of faith – faith in him who has created all that we are, and are part of.

Its so easy to see this stuff from the vantage point of being on retreat. So much more difficult in the midst of the busyness and chaos of everyday life. And there are people in our midst who would love to feel the closeness and calmness that Jesus gives, but whose lives are so demanding that they just can’t give themselves the time to draw close to him.

It would be great to bless the parents of some of our kids in consistently small ways that would enable them to feel God’s closeness and goodness, and help them to really live in the everyday reality of movement and tension.