There is a wonderful
phrase in the first sentence of the Paul’s 2nd letter to the
Corinthians today. “The love of Christ impels us.” I think the New Jerusalem
Bible translates this phrase far better. “The love of Christ overwhelms
us.” “The love of Christ overwhelms
us.” The story in the gospel of Jesus
calming the storm at sea is a wonderful example of this phrase.
The apostles and Jesus are crossing the Sea of Galilee in
their little boat. A storm come up, the wind begins to toss the boat around,
the waves crash over the bow and begin to swamp the boat. While all of this is
going on, Jesus is taking a nap. Alarmed that they will be drowned, the
apostles awaken Jesus, who stands and at his command the storm ceases and the
waters become calm. Jesus’ love for the welfare of his apostles overwhelms the
storm that is battering their little boat. Is not this story the perfect
allegory of many of our lives?
How often have we experienced being overwhelmed by the
events in our lives? The loss of a relationship, the loss of a job, the loss of
our home, the loss of a loved one to death, the loss of health, all of these
events can overwhelm our lives to such an extent that we feel like we are
drowning in them. When these things happen to us, we need to remember the
lesson that the apostles learned in today’s gospel, namely, that the love of
Jesus overwhelms all things, even the negative things that can happen to us in
life.
Back in June of 1981 I suffered from extreme burnout, only I
didn’t know what it was. I had no name for it. Burnout afflicts many people who
dedicate their lives in service to others. Nurses, nurses aides, EMTs, doctors,
firefighters, ambulance crews, many in church ministry have often experienced
burnout. Burnout is a parasite that sucks the life from the spirit of a person.
You don’t feel anger, or sorrow, or joy, or love. You feel nothing. You feel
dead inside. Emotionally, you feel like a zombie, only you don’t go around
eating brains. To not be able to feel
any emotion is a great burden.
It was about 7:30 in the morning and I began my drive up to
the College of St. Thomas where I had begun graduate school. During those days,
I usually traveled the winding roads of highway 13 to the very winding roads of
County Road 8 from which I got onto to the freeway.
As I set out from home down Highway 13 on this beautiful,
bright sunny day, I prayed to Jesus to heal me from feeling so dead
emotionally. What happened next is what I can only call a mystical
experience. As I was driving, all of a
sudden, I was no longer in my car. The bright sunny day disappeared and I found
myself in this very dark void. The wind was buffeting me around fiercely and
the only thing that prevented me from being blown away, was that my right hand
had a grasp on a piece of white cloth and I was holding onto that cloth for
dear life.
I looked at what I was holding, and it was the hem of a long
white garment. I looked up and saw the face of the victorious Christ crucified.
He, who in dying, lived. His face was radiant with peace, free from all injury.
I uttered just one word, “Help!” He smiled and reached down with his right arm,
his right hand grasping me by the wrist and he pulled me up. As I was being
lifted, I was not lifted up over his body, but rather into his body. Himself became myself. His hand became my
hand. His eyes became my eyes. We then looked around the dark, windy void and
saw all these people desperately hanging on to the hem of our alb, their faces
looked so scarred, scared and startled. One by one, we reached down and began
to pull these people up within ourself.
Suddenly, I was no longer in that dark void, but back in my
car driving up Interstate 35 somewhere around one of the Lakeville exits. I had
no idea how I got there. I searched within myself and found the burnout
completely gone. I was healed of the burnout. I was filled with such gratitude.
I also knew very clearly what I would be doing the rest of my life.
The love of Christ overwhelmed the darkness in my life. In
spite of all the hard experiences I have had since that time, I have never been
overwhelmed by them. I have felt frustration or discomfort, but never again
have I felt overwhelmed.
The love of Christ trumps all things. The love of Christ overwhelms
all confusion, all hopelessness, all evil.
The love of Christ overwhelms and blesses all of creation. When the
storms in our lives batter us and toss us about, just like the apostles in
their little boat, we must turn to Jesus and just say, “Help.” As the love of
Jesus overwhelmed the storm and calm the waters of the Sea of Galilee, so will
the love of Jesus overwhelm all things in our lives, and bring to us his calm
and his peace.
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