Did you know that the bathtub was invented in 1850? The telephone was invented in 1875. "Just think," someone said, "You could have sat in the bathtub for 25 years without the phone ringing." It never fails, does it? Just when you think you will have some peace and quiet, the telephone rings, or a water pipe breaks, or your partner needs something. Peace is a precious commodity and it is so very elusive.

Dante, the great poet of the Renaissance, was exiled from his home in Florence, Italy. Depressed by this cruel turn of fate, he decided to walk from Italy to Paris, where he could study philosophy, in an effort to find a clue to the meaning of life. In his travels, Dante found himself a weary pilgrim, forced to knock at the door of Santa Croce Monastery to find refuge from the night. A surly brother within was finally aroused. He came to the door, flung it open, and in a gruff voice asked, "What do you want?" Dante answered in a single word, "Peace."

Peace is a beautiful word, is it not? Yet it is a word that is a stranger to so many people. The fast-paced life that many of us lead provides us with an unprecedented measure of material possessions, but it does not provide us with peace. Stress is our constant companion, anxiety haunts our dreams. H. G. Wells a well educated and creative man was also an atheist. He said in his autobiography: "I cannot adjust my life to secure any fruitful peace. Here I am at sixty-five still seeking for peace...Dignified peace...is just a hopeless dream."

Where do you find peace? Most recently a colleague said to me that she is very content, content with her life, her work in the church, would you say then that she has found peace?

I believe that the experience of the disciples is an experience we will all have eventually out in a boat in a terrible storm and no peace in sight.

What that “storm” will look like I have no idea, but my wondering is how will you react?

This Gospel story is a familiar one: Jesus and his disciples decided to cross the Sea of Galilee by boat. And suddenly a terrible storm came up. That can happen on a body of water and it is a frightening experience. The winds howled and the waves beat against their boat to the point that it began filling with water. The disciples began to panic. It is interesting that Jesus was in the stern of the boat asleep during all of this. Either he was an unusually sound sleeper or, he was at peace with the world. I wonder how many people toss and turn in their bed each night, not because of a storm on the outside, but a storm on the inside.

The disciples woke Jesus. In their disturbed state of mind they asked him, "Do you not care that we perish?" And Mark tells us simply that Jesus "rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Peace! Be still!' And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." Then Jesus said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" Mark tells us that the disciples were filled with awe, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?"

Fear is an emotion most of us are trying to cope with: fear of the unknown, fear of financial insecurity, fear of not being wanted, fear of getting old, fear of not getting old, fear of "government," fear of "big business," fear of "crime-in-the-streets," etc., etc.

Whether we are worried these days about crime or nuclear bombs or the tax collector, our chronic fears send signals to the body, keeping it in a constant state of readiness: the "fight or flight" syndrome. And, eventually, the excessively fearful begin to experience physical symptoms. They become confused. They are unable to sort out legitimate fears from false fears.

The story of Jesus' birth begins with an Angel saying to Mary, "Fear not!" Then, over-and-over again in the Gospels, Jesus says to His disciples, "Do not be afraid ... Fear not ... I am with you."

Don't suppress your fears. Take the lid off and identify them. They may be very personal. Whatever they are let them surface now. And before this hour is over, let the Spirit of Christ touch you at the point of your fears. Let the Spirit of Christ be with you at the point of your fears. Let the Spirit of Christ help you uncover new possibilities for your life. Let peace be with you, in the Spirit of Christ.

"There is no need to be afraid," Jesus tells us. "Every hair on your head has been counted," He says. You are important to God. God wants to be in constant touch with you. You may turn on the busy signal if you wish, but God never will do that. This concern for you is enduring, constant, faithful, eternal. This is the Good News that banishes every fear and that Jesus tells His disciples to "proclaim from the housetops" (Mt. l0:27,31,32)

One reason why a lot of us aren't saying an unqualified "Yes" to this Good News is that we're afraid of God. I am not speaking of the "fear of God" that the Biblical writers speak of the -- reverence and the awe, which is a good, healthy fear of God. I am talking about being afraid of God literally. Some of us have been brought up to believe in God as an angry, wrathful, vengeful judge who is waiting to punish us, who is always updating a strict chronicle of our wrongs. Some of us were programmed to really fear this angry, wrathful, avenging God. And all through life, we find it terribly difficult to relate to God as depicted by Jesus in the Gospels: a loving Father who rushes out to welcome and embrace His lost, errant child.

There is a real life story of a man who was driving his car, intent on not being late for an appointment. He came to an intersection just as the traffic light began to change against him. He decided to try to "beat the light." As he started through, he noticed a policeman on the opposite side of the street on his motorcycle, and he did what most of us would do. He changed his mind. He jammed on his brakes and brought the car to a screeching halt. Then, very sheepishly, he looked over at the policeman to see his reaction. By this time the policeman was smiling. He had his arms extended and his hands down in that umpire gesture familiar to all baseball fans. And he shouted, "Safe!"

For many people, God is that policeman. God's just sitting up there checking on us to see if we make the light or not; or God's that umpire, always waiting to pronounce us either "Safe" or "Out."

Our Christian Faith offers us no illusion that we are a People chosen for exemption from pain and suffering. It holds no promise of a trouble-free life of easy comfort. It grants us no immunity from life’s struggles and its consequences. Rather, our Christian Faith provides us with the spiritual equilibrium and the moral stamina we need to face up to the burdens, the struggles and the fears that overtake us -- often in the most unexpected ways. And, most importantly, our Christian Faith enables us to see our own culpability for things as they are and our own responsibility for things as they should be.

Storms are part of life. Each of us must face our own storm. Often the greatest adversary we face is our own fear and that brings us to our Faith. Jesus rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. Then he asked his disciples, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?"

That's a question that many of us might ask ourselves from time to time when the winds are howling and the waves are beating on our boats. "Why am I afraid? Where is my faith, where can I find God’s love, where is Christ in this? God’s love breaks through these emotions. Be still, feel the peace for Love has the last word. In life and in death, Love has the last word.