Once again sitting in the sunshine on our deck, enjoying our daily tea break, we look over today’s readings and share our thoughts and feelings.

The first—from The Book of Kings—tells us of the Prophet Elijah’s encounter with God. We agree that, though we often look for God in the spectacular, we have finally discovered, as did Elijah: The Lord was not in the wind, in the earthquake or in the fire. He is in the tiny whisper within our hearts.

We turn to today’s Gospel. We sigh to Jesus; “Today we are very tired.” He whispers within our hearts: “Often I was tired. I then went off by Myself to rest in My Father’s arms. Here I found peace and renewed strength. Do this!”

From time to time, we (like Jesus’ early disciples) are tossed about by the wind and waves of life. We become fearful. We hear the voice of Jesus: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Like Peter, sometimes we too need to take risks—to make changes in our lives—to go outside our comfort zone. We both realize that so far Jesus hasn’t asked us to do any great things—to walk on water. He only asks us to love Him, each other and everyone He brings into our lives. To love is not easy—it is not just a word—a feeling—a passive emotion. When we truly love God and each other, we must take the chance of being rejected or hurt—make sacrifices—give of ourselves and willingly serve one another.

Just as did Peter, we feel a surge of zeal, saying to ourselves: “We can do it!” Then for a moment, we take our eyes off Jesus. Suddenly we realize: “Maybe we’re in over our heads!” Doubt and fear take hold and our hearts begin to sink.

When we fear we are about to drown in the sea of life, we call out to Jesus: “Lord, save us!” He never fails. Jesus reaches out His hand and leads us back into our storm-tossed boat where He remains with us—the winds of stress and fear die down. We know that truly He is the Son of God. With Him all things are possible! So with joy and confidence we proclaim:

Jesus, we trust in You!

As a Parish Community

Blood Centers of the Pacific would like to thank St. Robert’s for generously donating a lifesaving commodity—blood! At your blood drive on July 24th, 19 units of blood were collected. The units collected are a substantial help to our ability to meet the continuous need for blood in our community, and your personal commitment in this regard has been invaluable.

If you were unable to donate during the drive but are able now, please call 697-4034 for directions to our new San Mateo Office. Thank you for your gift of life.

The readings this weekend are wonderful, though they may need a bit of explanation. Before this section we hear, Elijah is on the run from Jezebel who has sworn to kill him, since he has killed the false prophets who are leading the Israelites astray and whom she has supported. Elijah is tired of running and complains to God that God should take his life. Then the word of God comes to him and the incident we hear takes place. We might wonder why he hides his face. In other places in the Hebrew scriptures, we read that no one can see God and live, so awesome, so holy, so “other” is Yahweh. Elijah has been reared with this understanding and since he wants to live, he doesn’t want to see God face to face. But the heart of the reading is the reality that God comes not in powerful, natural occurrences, but in the gentle breeze.

The gospel is a story we almost know by heart. Jesus’ presence calms the nerves of the disciples and the storm itself. Peter can do the impossible – walk on water- as long as he keeps his eyes on Jesus. Once he takes them off Jesus, he starts to sink. Jesus rescues him as he has rescued each of us, no doubt. Another aspect of the story we may not have noticed: Jesus had them cross the Sea of Galilee by boat, so he could finally (after feeding the 5000, not counting women and children) have some time to deal with John the Baptist’s violent death. Jesus, “like us in all things but sin” needed time for reflection and prayer.

You are invited
Recital of Sacred music
Sunday, August 7th at 2:30 p.m.
at St. Roberts church.

Sopranos Rachel Carter and Natalie Barrens,
with Pianist Kerry Leyden,
will be performing

Music includes
classical and traditional hymns and spirituals.