They saw Jesus walking on the sea
and coming near the boat,
and they were terrified.
But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
—John 6.19-20
In the difficult crossing,
the passage to the other side,
the opposing wind,
you are the peace that walks through the chaos,
the presence terrifying in your calm,
upsetting in your resolve.
In the darkness on the sea of Creation’s beginning,
Spirit breathing wildly over it,
the edge of a world,
you are the clarity.
You are the serenity piercing the jagged night,
somehow not just local, but encircling.
Fear is the oar I cling to, the wind I fight.
Straining, I resist the trust that all shall be well.
Beneath the howl of the wind, the waves’ roar,
the pounding of my heart, I hear, I hear
quiet and present, so near,
your placid voice: “It is I.”
You are in the boat with me.
The new creation is upon me.
I am borne, I am on the other side.
—July 25, 2018