Slideshow image

Do you believe in miracles?

Living in 21st century, where lots of things finally came to be explained by science, as much as we gained knowledge and control over what is happening before our eyes, people tend to believe that anything can be demystified with scientific explanation. When people see something unnatural, they often will think it is a trick. Or only if we find out how it works, we will be able to replicate it.

Then how do we understand today’s Gospel?

It was early in the morning, a strong wind was blowing while rocking the boat, and Jesus came to them walking on the sea. The disciples were terrified in fear thinking it was a ghost, and Peter asked Jesus to command him to walk on the water. Surely he did walk on the water until he got afraid of wild waves. As he sank into the water, he cried out for help to Jesus, and Jesus reached out his hand to Peter.

There is no way for us to figure out what really happened. It could have been a true divine intervention of God which overrode the law of nature. Or something that would be possible only if we can hack the code of natural law which is yet to be discovered.

In fact, things we experience everyday used to be considered like a magic or joke. No one before 1903 would have believed if they were told that humans could fly on a machine. People 100 years ago would have laughed if they were told that there could be a machine that would beat the chess champion. Lots of things which were regarded impossible have become possible with the advance of science. And the science unveiled so much as to admit that there might more to be discovered than what we can imagine, Such as hidden dimensions beyond third dimension, dark matter, or multi universe. And who knows? Walking on the water may be just a leisurely thing in the near future.

However, I think the message of today’s Gospel is more than miracle as supernatural phenomenon.

It is about how we can build trusting relationship with God, and how we may fall out of it. Before I talk more about it, I would like to introduce you a book titled “flow” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian-American psychologist.  

In this book, Mihaly starts with talking about the ways to be happy. There are many different ways to be happy. Most of the people feel happy when they get what they desired to have. Indulging with delicious food, buying a house of your dream, going for adrenaline high sports, or getting a massage; All of these make us happy, but the tricky thing is it does not last long. Our sensual pleasure wears off easily.

For example, there is a Korean restaurant named South Castle in North Vancouver. I happened to go there with a Korean friend one time. We ordered the famous Korean blood sausage soup. It is a real soul food for many Koreans. First time I went there, it really hit the spot and I felt right back home. So, I went there again next time with another friend. But to my surprise, it was not the same. It was still good, but it did not blow my mind as the first time. The satisfaction that we get from external stimulation do not last forever.

Mihaly, instead of happiness determined by outside influences, talks about the quality of experience as a condition of true happiness. Mihaly observed from his interviewees that people presented a state of content when they were involved deeply in the moment.   He calls it “flow state”.

You may have experience of losing a sense of time while you are enjoying something. It can be reading a book, gardening, cooking, playing sports or a chess, playing musical instrument, or dancing. In that moment, you often lose a track of time, and nothing else seems to matter.

I am not talking about passive activities that makes you hooked on as a form of addiction. It refers to more controlled, challenging, intentional activity that needs concentration. When you are in the state of flow, you are so focused even to the point of being free yourself from the ego, and enjoying the moment with pure mind. Mihaly says you can be in flow state even in experiencing of your body. This may resemble to the state of being mindfulness practice. It does not stop there.

Think about being in a relationship with someone. Someone who makes you comfortable in your own skin, you forget about your concern, other distractions, you are fully involved in the moment with the person. You can tell the difference from the opposite. If you are with a difficult person, a minute may feel like an hour, and you will constantly zone out, or be self conscious all the time.

Going back to the story in today’s Gospel, let’s look into the moment when Peter was taking his first step on the water. Like typical Peter we know from the other parts of the Gospel, among the disciples, he was more impulsive and fealess than others. Once again, this time, when others were all puzzled and terrified as they saw Jesus walking on the water, Peter asked Jesus to command him to come to Jesus on the water.

As much as he was not fully aware what he was asking, I imagine his mind was totally focused on Jesus, and just wanting to get closer to him. Peter as a loyal and simple man probably did not think much what to do as Jesus called him “come”. His eyes must have been fixed to Jesus, and his mind was focused on Jesus’ command. Then he just stepped out of the boat into the water. He might not have been aware what he was doing whether he was stepping on the water or a fire. For him, as he was fully connected to Jesus through a whole trust, he was just walking to Jesus.

And as we all know, when rough waves churned, he was pulled out of the connection. He must have been back to self-consciousness. 'Oh my God, I am on the water, oh my God, look at the wind blowing', and the more he was distracted, The more he was disconnected from Jesus, and the external danger has become real to him.

Out of fear and desperation, as he was sinking, he cried out for help to Jesus. "Lord, save me!" As Jesus held Peter’s hand and caught him, I assume he was back to restore the bond with Jesus as if a baby finds comforts in mother’s arms.

I wonder what it would be like if we are in a state of flow in our faith.

We trust God or Love God so much as to forget about what we want, what we are afraid of, how we may be seen by others, or how we can control the moment.

I picture in that moment, we are tapping into God’s grace, and we become a channel of God’s blessing, and the Spirit literally flows in and flows out. We join the flow of love between the Father and the Son and the Sprit, and we are secured in union with God. 

If we seize the moment by fully loving and trusting God, it would not matter to us whether we are sailing on rough sea, traveling in the midst of storms, or walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

Because our mind and heart, our whole self would be fully carried by our trust in God, and nothing would be able to take away the peace and joy in us.

More than any supernatural thing that can happen on earth, tasting the piece of Heaven on the earth, I believe that is the true miracle given to us as a gift from God.