Will YOU Get Out of the Boat?

I was given the glorious opportunity to spend a week at a lake house in the Adirondacks recently and it was absolutely beautiful. While the app on my phone said that it would be rainy most days, somehow, God prevailed and each and every day was sunny and warm. Perfect days for reading, relaxing, kayaking...and trying to swim a bit in that cold lake water. As a woman who grew up on Jones Beach in NY, I find lake water very cold, even in the summer. But, beggars can't be choosers and the gift of a week at a lake is not something to be scoffed out. So most days saw me slowly work up my courage to get into the water, stay in for about five minutes and then run out muttering: "It's cold, it's cold, it's too cold...."

Today's Gospel is about Peter coming out of the boat, at Jesus' beckoning, and risking walking on the water.

Yesterday in our country we saw crazy behavior from crowds protesting in the South.

Today we come to church...and do what? How do we understand yesterday's events in light of the gospel?

We ask ourselves what the heck is going on in our society?

I don't know the answer to that really. I suspect it has something to do with the idea that we've stopped listening to each other. We may be so preoccupied with being right that we can't even discuss another point of view. I don't know.

But this is what I heard at church this morning. I need to have the courage to get out of the boat and take the risk to walk into the unknown, for the sake of my brothers and sisters. For the sake of the world I love, I need to try to move beyond where I am warm and comfortable. I need to step into a situation totally foreign to me, and try to learn something new. I need to be vulnerable.

I don't want to get out of the boat. The water is too cold.
But that doesn't matter...this life isn't about being comfortable is it? It's about being called to make a difference, for the better...with my sisters and brothers.

Even as I write this, our Social Justice group is meeting in the parish. I am so proud of the work that they do, and the care that they have for the community we belong to. I love that they are teaching the rest of us in the parish how we can make a difference for the better.

So, cold water or not, who's going to get out of the boat with me? How are we going to make a difference...knowing that God will help us on our way.