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b'(Jb.38:1,8-11;\\xa0\\xa0 Ps.107:23-26,28-31;\\xa0\\xa0 2Cor.5:14-17;\\xa0\\xa0 Mk.4:35-41)\\xa0 \\u201cWho then is this whom even wind and sea obey?\\u201d Need you ask?\\xa0 If you must, I will tell you: this is He who \\u201cshut within the doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb\\u201d; He who \\u201cset limits for it and fastened the bars of its door\\u201d \\u2013 He who speaks to Job: \\u201cHere shall your proud waves be stilled!\\u201d\\xa0 This is the Lord, the great I AM! When the Lord \\u201craised up a storm wind\\u201d against those \\u201ctrading on the deep waters\\u2026 which tossed its waves on high\\u2026 their hearts melted away in their plight.\\u201d\\xa0 But \\u201cthey cried to the Lord in their distress [and] from their straits He rescued them.\\u201d\\xa0 Is not He who \\u201chushed the storm to a gentle breeze, and the billows of the sea were stilled,\\u201d the same God who in our gospel when the disciples cry out, \\u201cWe are perishing,\\u201d because \\u201ca violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat\\u201d \\u2013 is this not the same God who \\u201crebuked the wind, and said to the sea, \\u2018Quiet!\\xa0 Be still!\\u2019\\u201d by whose hand \\u201cthe wind ceased and there was great calm\\u201d?\\xa0 The power is the same and the God is the same.\\xa0 Jesus is Lord! And is it not this same God, this same Christ, who stills the waves of your own pride when its waters begin to fill your boat with sin, when it seems you shall sink into the deep and never return?\\xa0 Do you not know your sin?\\xa0 Do you not know His power?\\xa0 Is it not the Lord\\u2019s great power and the peace we find by its great grace of which Paul, too, speaks when he says, \\u201cThe old things have passed away; behold, new things have come\\u201d?\\xa0 Is it not the same salvation he refers to when he declares, \\u201cWhoever is in Christ is a new creation\\u201d? Brothers and sisters, \\u201cLet us cross to the other side.\\u201d\\xa0 Let us allow the Lord to bring us \\u201cto [our] desired haven.\\u201d\\xa0 Through the tribulation of this life let us pass, impelled by \\u201cthe love of Christ,\\u201d knowing He holds power over all the proud waves of the sinful sea in His redeeming Hand.\\xa0 Let Him but speak a word to our impenitent hearts to break the waves we raise up and make us whole.\\xa0 \\u201cDo you not yet have faith?\\u201d\\xa0 Then indeed be dead in Christ and live \\u201cno longer for [yourselves] but for Him who for [our] sake died and was raised.\\u201d\\xa0 This is the Lord our God.\\xa0 Silence your tongue before Him. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "The World Is a Work of Art (Made by the Hand of God)" (final section), from The Whole Whale, eighth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, in you we find our peace, for you created us, and for our sake your Son died and was raised. YHWH, what need we fear if we are already dead in your Christ?\\xa0 How could the proud waves of this world be a threat to him who has already reached his desired haven, who has already come to the opposite shore?\\xa0 The power of wind and sea mean nothing to the One who commands these and all other things, and it is He who is with us now. O LORD, increase our faith in the salvation that is ours through the death and resurrection of your Son.\\xa0 Flesh now has no hold of Him, and so it should no longer trouble those who are reborn in Him.\\xa0 His life should be our own, and this life is unconquerable.\\xa0 O let us trust entirely in His love! Though the waves do rise above our heads and threaten our boat with sinking, the Spirit of your Son is present to us to command the sea to be still.\\xa0 And so we shall sail peacefully into your kingdom, if we but remember His presence, if we but call on your NAME.'