I am a slow learner and a slow thinker.  Sometimes when things have been going pretty well, it takes a while for me to catch up to my emotions, or become aware of the things that are dragging me down, beating me up, pressuring me to resort to old habits and coping strategies.  It took some courage this week to be kind to myself and rest a while so I could gather it up and begin to sort it out.

This last week among some chosen Lenten observances, I tossed out a request to God — where is a story of someone who was going along just fine and suddenly wasn’t?  And there in my imagination was the apostle Peter crawling out of the boat.  So I hung out with Peter for a few days.  He had just witnessed the feeding of the five thousand and Jesus had sent him and the rest of the disciples on ahead to cross the Sea of Galilee.  The story joins them there.

Walking on Water

There were others in the boat.
yet I see only Peter,
because I’m sinking too.

Peter yells over the storm,
‘If it’s you Lord, tell me to come!’
then crawls out before he can doubt.
Do his friends: help him over,
grab his cloak to hold him back,
stare flabbergasted? It was a ghost
they thought they saw, remember?
But the story only has eyes for Peter
who is now standing – Standing!
on water (a pitching, twitching
shifting moveable floor).
Does a cheer ring out,
or astonished silence honour
Peter’s first step?

There’s nothing else.
Just Jesus
and Peter
walking
on water.

(emails, voicemails, notifications,
missed appointments, situations
unresolved, conflicted and calamitous;
rising pressure, rising panic
swamp
confidence, courage, faith
sink
best intentions)

Two things are certain:
Jesus was already on his way
and his rescue grip was rock solid.
Ask the witnesses
now helping them
back into the boat.

© 2018 – Laurel Archer

Photo Credit:  Laurel Archer — California Coast.