Learning to Walk on Water

“Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out for fear. 

But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Be of good cheer! It is I: do not be afraid.’ 

And Peter answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to You on the water.’ 

So He said, ‘Come.’ And when Peter had come out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ 

And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat the wind ceased.”   

This first week of the fast of the Dormition of the Theotokos is a reminder of the blessed Theotokos’ role as God’s perfect disciple. She is who we emulate in becoming God-bearers ourselves; accepting of the will of God and allowing the uncreated energies of God to manifest through our participation in Christ. 

Humility will save us. 

Pride cometh before we sink. 

Blessed Theotokos, we magnify you.  

Her acceptance in Providence, her submission to the Will of God is what we sinners look to during our trials. “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” These are the words that we take with us, written on our heart.

The receptiveness is how we become the bearer of Truth, like the blessed Theotokos. This is the goal of every Christian, the vocation that we have as followers of the Way, to become like Christ through bearing Him as the mother of our Lord did, with grace and acceptance. She is the meek and she in spirit and body passed from this world to the everlasting kingdom.  

“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” 

I am trying to allow God to change me instead of trying to change God—hints my inquiring into the Orthodox tradition. I thought that if I was going to dedicate my life here on earth to a religious vocation, whether it be in the clergy or in a monastery or both, that I need to follow my inner guidance and go with the tradition of the faith that makes the most sense to me. 

And Orthodoxy is that. 

Regardless, meekness is holding steadfastly to our convictions and principles. That means not being knocked off course when an opposing view enters our space, it also means not trying to beat our own ideas over the heads of anyone that comes near us.

Because even if we are resolute in our convictions, we are still sinners, and “being right,” is pride.  

Meekness has always conjured images of weakness for me; Christians were always defenseless sheepish creatures. As if we are waiting for our Lord to come to bring us home as the parable goes.  

No. I don’t think that’s quite it, but while we’re on that note, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, 

‘For Your sake we are killed all day long;

We are accounted as sheep for the 

slaughter.’

Yet in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

A sheep to slaughter, as it is written in the Psalms—not passive and helpless but persecuted and confronted with assaults from this world and the evil one.

Fellow sinners, humility and meekness is The Way to combat the assault of this world and the devil. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter in the midst of wolves. “Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” That is to walk to the royal path of The Way; the be in this world and not of it—to remember when we are faced with the temptations of this world that, “I am a sojourner and stranger among you.”

We are called not to be affected by the world, this is not to say that we go up to the nearest mountain top and sit like the stereotypical Bodhisattva, but an awareness that the horrors and traumas of this world affect us. When they affect us in a way that severs our connection to God, our connection, not His. For there is nothing that can separate His love for us, but we have a choice to reject His love as well as we fall into intentional and unintentional sin that severs us from Him, which is to be affected by the world. 

When we embody a meekness of spirit, we are imitating Christ. Meekness is a submission to God’s will. If repentance is opening ourselves to the kingdom then meekness is accepting it, this is the yoke of Christ. It is easy for our minds to be scattered by all the temptations and busy-ness of the world. It is as if we are being hit by a boisterous wind upon the sea rocking our vessel, tossing us from here to there and back again. 

What do we do? 

“Command me to You.” 

Repentance and submission: exemplified by the holy Theotokos accepting the gift of being the mother of our Lord, saying “Let it be,” to the will of God. 

Repentance opens our eyes to God and His providence, through repentance and humility God reveals Himself to us. We are allowing the world to pass through us; we do not cling, nor do we let anything sling to us, but allow the passions and temptations and the flashiness to pass by without a second glance. When we are confronted by these worldly affections we rely on God. We look, with faith, to Him and submit. This is meekness.

It is not giving up like the passive sheep image might evoke. It is the opposite of giving up, because it is no longer fighting against the current. The world will drown us without a resilience that comes from God. Meekness is the strength to accept His will and faith in His providence. It takes strength of will to control one’s passions, it’s a softening of our inner being.

It’s like a boxer exhausting themselves out at the sound of the first bell of the first round, looking for that quick KO. We’re trying to go the distance. Floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee. This is how “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” We rely on God to help us control our passions, conserve our strength and, embodying meekness–not giving in to anger. 

When we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter, when we are attending to the vocation of Christian life, we will face adversity. It is the nature of being Christian, “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”   

We’re going to face challenges, the world will affect us, but the rigidity we are confronted with is a call to cultivate flexibility by Christ, “I am gentle and lowly in heart.” 

Christ is the will of God, so we can take this to understand the will of God is gentle and lowly of heart. To step into that will is to be present to God and cooperative with Him and to do that is to be content with who we are. Wrestling with God because of our passions is kicking and screaming against the current of providence which is as gentle as we are restless. We’re the ones flailing and chopping the water, fiercely holding onto why might be lost if we don’t tighten our grip. 

It works both ways, too, where we can be too eager to pursue the will of God and try swimming to get somewhere sooner only to exhaust ourselves just like the boxer, maybe even get somewhere we aren’t spiritually ready for—just like Peter.

It’s all vanity and pride.

Meekness is walking on water, keeping our eyes fixed on Christ as the world tries pulling us into its depths. It may seem a little outlandish to say, but we walk on water daily when we walk with meekness, it is a literal miracle performed, through Christ and humility, because every day we have a new chance to submit to His will when it would be easier to fall into anger, sink into fear, or fall down and worship Satan. 

The question is: who do we let in? What do we let change us? Are allowing God to change us from within or are we allowing the flesh to be conformed to the world?

Who are we carrying?

The Lord’s path is gentle, and though we may be affronted by the world “neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

Christ is where we rest. Christ is where we are made whole. Christ is where we learn how to follow gently with a lowly heart, our cross in hand, and head held high. Just as the mother of our Lord did before us. Selah.

Si comprehendis, non est Deus