May 13, 2022 – When Things Fall Apart, Pema Chodron

Intimacy With Fear

“One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they put out, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A windstorm swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to him and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?” Luke 8:22-25

“EMBARKING on the spiritual journey is like getting into a very small boat and setting out on the ocean to search for unknown lands. With wholehearted practice comes inspiration, but sooner or later we will also encounter fear.” (Chodron, Pema. When Things Fall Apart (p. 5)

Intimacy With Fear

The Pillars of Hercules are a pair of geographic features that flank the Strait of Gibraltar. The Pillars, along with the nearby African mountains form a gateway that links the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. In antiquity the sight of the Pillars of Hercules told sailors they had reached the edge of the known world. What lay beyond was the unknown and certain death. Some myths even said that the Strait of Gibraltar was a portal to Hades. Herodotus claimed that the mythical city of Atlantis sat out of view beyond the Pillars of Hercules, but that no ordinary sailors could ever reach it. Many simply thought that if you sailed over the horizon and into the mists, your boat would simply fall off and into the abyss and be lost forever.

It was not until the 16th century with the discovery of the New World by Europeans that the Strait of Gibraltar was seen as anything other than the end of the Earth. The legendary inscription on the pillars telling people to go no further was reversed from ne plus ultra (Latin for nothing further beyond) to the phrase plus ultra meaning the Spanish were now to go further still. They would pass the Strait of Gibraltar into a new era, instead of falling off the end of the Earth.

Jesus bids us to go further when we follow him – further than we are comfortable, even further than we might be willing to go. While he was teaching his disciples, Jesus often took them beyond their comfort zone – certainly beyond their personal boundaries of fear and dread. We hear it in their comment to Jesus “Master, Master, we are perishing!”.

If we are to be messengers for Jesus, then we are going to have to embark on journeys that will push us to our limits. But remember, like the disciples, we do not venture forward alone. Jesus is always with us and will always be with us, even to the end of the ages (Matthew 28:20).

Let us pray,

Lord Christ, there is so much in this life of which we can be afraid. Our personal safety as well as the safety of our families and friends often are on the forefront of our minds. Help me to remember today that you are with me to the end of today, and to the end of the ages. Amen.

Pastor Dave