Hymn of  Today: Be Thou My Vision 

This 8th century Irish poem was translated in 1905 by Mary Mary Elizabeth Byrne, and later other scholars adjustd its rhyme and meter and set it to music. (Then Sings My Soul,  Robert Morgan, 2003) The words are a beautiful prayer, a perfect way to begin our day with our thoughts focused on the Lord. If you don't know the hymn, read them as a prayer before your thoughts run to work and weather and meals. Though the hymn is old, it is still in many hymnals, and the simple tune is worth seeking so you can add it to your hymns of joy and praise.

Be thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art;
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my Wisdom, and thou my true Word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, and I thy true son,
Thou in my dwelling, and I with thee one.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise;
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven my treasure thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O  bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Scripture for Today: Luke 8:22-25

Now It came about on one of those days, that he and his disciples got into a boat, and he said to them, "Let us go over to the other side of the lake." And they launched out. But as they were sailing along he fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended upon the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. And they came to him and woke him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And  being aroused, he rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it  became calm. And he said to them, "Where is your faith?" And they were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, "Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?"

Lovely picture of Jesus in this passage. Let's see what we can find.

First of all we have a picture of how absolutely human Jesus was. The passage comes from a busy chapter. Jesus is going from town to town: healing the sick, delivering those possessed of demons, teaching, being pushed and shoved by crowds who wanted to get close to him, to touch him. He saw a boat at the edge of the lake (some translations call this a sea), so he said, "Let's go over to the other shore." He needed to get away!

I've been to that place, and we took a boat across, just as Jesus did. I remember that the little sea is tucked in a basin-like area, and I was told that when the winds sweep down from the mountains the waters become very rough. Jesus had had a busy day. He found a good spot on the baot and curled up for a nap. The wind and the rain didn't bother him a bit. He was tired and  went sound asleep! How human!

The storm got so bad that the disciples, though many of them were fishermen and accustomed to the water, were frightened. So they woke Jesus! The man woke and immediately acted in his God-nature, speaking to the wind and rain he had created and telling them to behave! And they did! Of course!

We see, in retrospect, both sides of our Savior Jesus and both sides of the disciples. Jesus needed rest, so the man took a nap; his friends needed help, so their God woke and calmed the storm. The disciples knew he could do most anything, so they woke him; they still didn't really know who he was, so they were surprised by his actions.

I see his disciples today--ME--US--responding to storms in the same way those twelve did 2000 years ago. A storm comes, we panic and call him! He comes and acts. We're surprised! We may take some consolation that we are just like the twelve. I prefer to pause and listen to his question. "Where is your faith?" Having done mighty things in our lives, have we not learned anything?

So my prayer for us today is this: Lord, help us remember exactly who you are when we call to you--our friend who was once a man and our God who has now returned to his powerful place. Teach us to expect you to act when we call on you in the midst of our storms. Give us the faith to trust you absolutely, in all kinds of life's storms.