Where I live in Nebraska, in the Midwest US, it’s about as far from an ocean as you can get. The readings for today are about storms at sea, and I don’t have any regular contact with the sea, but we do get storms here. We’re into storm season here right now. Thunderstorms are common, often with heavy rain and high winds. Sometimes hail, sometimes flash flooding, sometimes tornadoes.  Living here I know something about storms. Physical storms can be scary. I’ve had hail damage to my house and my car. I’ve nervously waited out tornadoes in the basement. A couple years ago there was major flooding very near my house, but luckily I live on a hill and was ok. Many of my neighbors were not so lucky. Storms can be scary and destructive.

In the first reading and the Gospel there are storms, and the storms are calmed by the power of the Lord. Jesus tells his disciples that they should have faith, that they are not alone. When the storms arise, Jesus will be there to help them. He calmed the waves and quieted the wind.

Bad weather is not the only storm we encounter in life. We have to weather all kinds of storms in our lives. There’s illness, loss of loved ones, and actual storm damage. Things don’t always go the way we would like them to, but Jesus is there with us, through the good and the bad, calming the winds and helping us through.