courage can be stronger than fear
Inside a bus on a very long trip, a man noticed a little girl in one side sitting alone with nobody accompanying her. So the man approached her, “Little girl, he ask, “are you not afraid to be traveling alone on this long trip.” The girl shook her head and said, “sir I am not afraid because the driver of the bus is my father.”
Our gospel today is something similar. Jesus calmed the storm and the raging waves of the sea. He also calmed the disciples who were afraid, in fact terrified when their boat was tossed to and fro. But Jesus was there, and his loving presence and care was felt by the disciples.
All of us experience fear. When I was in the first year I was also afraid. I was afraid I may not have any friends here. I was afraid because I have to fend for myself. The higher years are also afraid. When I was high school I was always afraid of tests and exams. I was afraid I could not answer question in our Latin class.
Fear is not something we can do away with. We can never do away with fears. But we can always go beyond our fears – to take the risk despite the fear, to move on despite the fear, to study well despite the fear, to approach the prefect despite my fear of him. If you keep on running away every time you are afraid you would never grow up. You have to learn to confront the fears – to acknowledge that you are afraid and at the same time to do our best despite of it.
I am 40 years old. There are still many things I am afraid of so much so that if I entertain them all and run away every time I feel afraid, I would never be happy. Be a risk taker, be courageous, learn to fight despite the fear.
Jesus is there. Sometimes we feel that he is not there or he is sleeping. But he is there. We just have to wake him up sometimes and the best way to wake him up is to pray - to pray, to wake up Jesus in times of fear. And when you pray you will notice that you are still afraid but your courage and resolve will be much stronger than your fears.
Our gospel today is something similar. Jesus calmed the storm and the raging waves of the sea. He also calmed the disciples who were afraid, in fact terrified when their boat was tossed to and fro. But Jesus was there, and his loving presence and care was felt by the disciples.
All of us experience fear. When I was in the first year I was also afraid. I was afraid I may not have any friends here. I was afraid because I have to fend for myself. The higher years are also afraid. When I was high school I was always afraid of tests and exams. I was afraid I could not answer question in our Latin class.
Fear is not something we can do away with. We can never do away with fears. But we can always go beyond our fears – to take the risk despite the fear, to move on despite the fear, to study well despite the fear, to approach the prefect despite my fear of him. If you keep on running away every time you are afraid you would never grow up. You have to learn to confront the fears – to acknowledge that you are afraid and at the same time to do our best despite of it.
I am 40 years old. There are still many things I am afraid of so much so that if I entertain them all and run away every time I feel afraid, I would never be happy. Be a risk taker, be courageous, learn to fight despite the fear.
Jesus is there. Sometimes we feel that he is not there or he is sleeping. But he is there. We just have to wake him up sometimes and the best way to wake him up is to pray - to pray, to wake up Jesus in times of fear. And when you pray you will notice that you are still afraid but your courage and resolve will be much stronger than your fears.
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