Peace, be still.

I’ve always been fascinated by that story of Jesus on the boat calming the storm simply by saying, “Peace, be still.” How amazing that those words could do so much!

I was thinking about it today, thinking about what causes waves and wind. I know that waves on the ocean are caused by the wind blowing over it. The stronger the wind and the longer it blows, the larger the waves get. And winds are caused by areas of high pressure and areas of low pressure in the atmosphere, as areas with lots of heat energy try to dissipate that energy away. Hot air expands as the molecules vibrate more, taking up larger areas and pushing into areas with less heat energy.

In those storms, the air molecules were exerting lots of back and forth pressure on each other and the water beneath, and pushing the waves higher. Each water drop was pushing the water drop next to it, up and down. For all of that to go away, truly everything had to be stilled. The Creator of the earth spoke to the elements and they obeyed.

It’s the Christmas season. How many of our wars and arguments and pushing and shoving could be ended if we listened to that declaration of “Peace on earth, good will toward men” and “Be still and know that I am God”?

Image: Jesus Calms the Storm, by Daniel Bonnel, courtesy of Images of Christ Project, http://www.iocproject.com/gallery/painting.php?sort_mode=title&sku=10049