Then it began to blow a gale and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost swamped. But he was in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep. They woke him and said to him, ‘Master, do you not care? We are going down!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Quiet now! Be calm!’ And the wind dropped, and all was calm again.
Mark 4:37-39
Our daughter, our last child at home, moved into her own home over a year ago. She hasn’t moved far. Just around the corner. Yet, she now has a power bill to pay, buys her own groceries, she cleans her bathroom, cooks and does dishes. We still see her every evening when she ‘borrows’ a dog for company and then returns the dog on her way to work the next morning.
But for our room, the other three bedrooms are empty, sons and a daughter now moved on, and likely never to return permanently. It’s a quiet ache that we’ll all eventually experience. Tidy bedrooms don’t make up for children who have to grow up and start looking after themselves.
This is, after all, what we as parents aspire to. It’s our job. We have faith in our children, in the way we have taught them.
One of the richest, allegorical texts of Mark’s Gospel (4:35 – 41) is the story in which Jesus’ calms the storm. It has been understood as a picture of the confusion of the early church. Jesus’ questions his disciples, ‘Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?’ The disciples had failed to recognise Jesus’ presence, thinking him ‘asleep’. It is no surprise that at the heart of this story, there is a story about who I am. It is no trouble being a person of faith when the going is good, but when my life is thrown into turmoil, I struggle to see God walking with me. Notionally I know he is there, but in my anxiety doubt grows. Mark clearly tells us that his presence is constant and real, we need but call on his name.
And while this story still has an application to the life of the church today it applies equally to letting our children go, to make their own decisions, to be independent, and trusting them to do right. They will experience life in a turbulent world, have enormous ups and downs, but in the end, we trust that they will know that you are there to love and support them. And it’s your job for the duration of your life. And as we live in Christian hope for life eternal, it’s forever.
Mr Peter Douglas
Director of Faith and Mission
