On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’ (Mark 4.35-45)

It is really simple. When overwhelmed, imagining a hopeful future, can be really hard. Anxieties rise, fears make us want to retrench and defend; we may run and give up; or, we may just hide away of distract ourselves in forms of denial.

Jesus makes a bold claim. When getting into the boat, he tells his disciples, “let us go across to the other side.” The claim is that, regardless of wind and waves, the boat is not marked for sinking to the depths. Rather, the boat is going to the other side. So confident in this claim, Jesus takes the opportunity on the crossing to catch some much needed rest, as Mark notes, “he was asleep on the cushion.”

In Jesus’ rest, we can find hope. If God’s not anxiously wrapped in fear, then we need not be overwhelmed by our fear.

In this podcast, we will be having conversation about “getting to the other side.” How does the struggle feel? What are the challenges to hope? Where do we find God’s peaceful, non-anxious presence?