Finding peace in the midst of the storm

Every "Cuaresma" or lent 40 days before Easter I have a tradition to read something about the life of Jesus every day and today I read the story when Jesus calms the storm. To reflect on the story, this is how it happened.

Jesus fell asleep as He and His disciples were sailing across the Sea of Galilee. A great storm arose. The wind blew and waves covered the ship. The disciples, afraid for their lives, woke Jesus. He stood and told the winds and the sea to be still. The storm stopped, and the sea was calm. The disciples were amazed that even the wind and the sea obeyed Jesus.

This story is a good reminder that in life, even when a storm hits, Jesus is there with us so we don't need to be afraid because Jesus Christ has power to bring peace in he midst of life's storms. A Facebook post said the following: Satan-- " I will cause anxiety, fear and panic. I will shut down business, schools, places of worship, and sports events. I will cause ecumenic turmoil and chaos."

Jesus-- " I will bring together neighbors, restore family unity, I will bring dinner back to the kitchen table. I will help people slow down their lives and appreciate what really matters. I will teach my children to rely on me and not the world. I will teach my children to trust me and not their money and material resources."

We are presently living a big storm of uncertain future for many. People have lost their jobs or lost significant amount of money in their business or stocks and no one knows when the storm will stop. The storm has come in a form of a virus and is causing so much financial devastation. I keep wondering, how bad can it get from where we are? But it's clear, we don't know until we've done this social distancing for a while to see if it's working.

For now, during this time of social isolation, we can still reach out and make a difference for good by lifting each other spirits. I love this quote by President Hinckley: " What I am suggesting and asking is that we turn the negativism that so permeates our society and look for the remarkable good in  the land and times in which we live, that we speak of one another's virtues more than we speak of one another's faults, that optimism replace pessimism. Let our faith replace our fears."

The silver lining for most people is that they can tune out the noise and hit the pause button on their rat race to spend quality time with loved ones. People are cooking and eating meals together and doing household chores together and doing school work together and other activities as a family. No more going back and forth to this and that because everything is cancelled. I hope people are making the most out of this situation spending time with loved ones and watching over their neighbor, especially the elderly. May we think of ways to help each other.

Con amor,
Vero