It’s not always ideal to have to make the trip from one side of Cleveland to the other, but after our Bible study Monday evening, focusing on Matthew 14:22-33, in which walking-on-water Jesus saved not-so-walking-on-water Peter, the full moon started to emerge with its eye-catching beauty in the sky. One of the details in that story is the time when Jesus starts defying the laws of physics. Scholars say the literal translation would be “in the fourth watch of the night,” meaning between 3 and 6am.
During my teen and twenty-something years, especially, it was the cool thing to stay up all hours of the night, as if to defy the social norms or something. Granted, the saying so goes that “nothing good can come after midnight,” but thankfully I was part of a group that defied that with means and amusement that did not harm our bodies or others. Many heart-warming memories and friendship-enriching conversations ensued in the middle of the night. But over time, the evening hours also brought their own peacefulness and serenity, not to mention eye-catching beauty from the sunset to the stars and moon, as well as the utter simplicity of crickets chirping while seemingly the rest of the world settled in for the night.
And then the Mrs. took on night-time nursing for a while, and I realized the places that are not always peaceful and serene, even if the rest of the world attempts to be then. And yet, even during those chaotic moments in the middle of the night, miracles were/are still happening; goodness, hope, love were/are still happening. Absolutely precious children of God, including the Divine as well, are just as much in full operation while the rest fade off to sleep.
I still have my appreciation for the night hours: a lit-up city skyline and the moon and stars and pockets of peace and serenity tend to help with that. But I find even greater hope in a passage that reveals Jesus reaching down into the choppiest of waters attempting to overtake us. I find greater hope that such compassion and grace can happen at 3am as 3pm or any other day-lit hour. I find wonderful assurance knowing that God’s love for us, for humanity, never rests. And I marvel over the night’s own breath-taking beauty that can make us fall in love not just with the natural world, but with the God who continues to shape it/us all. Thanks be God, indeed!
In Christ,
Pastor Brad