Does faith make a person do “crazy” things? Depending on your perspective, one may answer YES to that question!

For those who think living a life of Christian faith means following a bunch of rules, doing the same as everyone else in their church, and not having any fun or excitement, I would suggest they read through the Gospels again. This past Sunday’s Gospel from Matthew (14:22-33) is one of my favorites: Peter walking on water. So, let’s unpack how incredible and almost unbelievable this narrative is.

Matthew sets the stage for the encounter, indicating it is very late into the night (the fourth watch), and the disciples are facing rather stormy conditions with the wind thwarting their efforts. The men are tired from battling the storm, compounded with the fact they had not been able to sleep. They cry out to a   figure they see as a ghost. (What other explanation could there be?) But it was Jesus! And He immediately reassures them it is actually Him in the flesh and they are not hallucinating. However, there was the fact that He’s walking on water! That is crazy! Peter boldly meets crazy with crazy, challenging Jesus to allow him, Peter, to walk on the water to meet Him. Then Jesus antes up the crazy by agreeing to Peter’s proposal with the simple word of, “Come.” 

The only times I’ve ever walked on water it has been in a frozen state: once on the Arctic ocean and once on a glacier. However, if, when I’m traveling by cruise ship, I see Jesus walking on the water toward me and if He then invites me to walk on the water towards Him, I’m not sure I could; most especially if the waves were bad. While I have no doubt that Jesus can walk on water, my brain cannot process Peter stepping out of a perfectly good boat and starting to walk on the water as well. I keep tripping over questions that begin with “how” and “why.” Even though I struggle to comprehend that Peter could actually get out of the boat and walk on the water, I have great respect for him in doing so. This may seem like “crazy” faith, but it’s the faith we are called to have and to share. In the face of insurmountable obstacles, God can make a way. 

When I hear this story, I can understand Jesus’ chastisement  of Peter when he starts to doubt and begins sinking. Peter had believed enough to get out of the boat, to take the action, but his faith wasn’t quite deep enough to see him through. For me, my problem would be getting out of the boat. But, I think if I was able to get out of the boat I would run to Jesus and give Him a hug of both joy and gratitude: joy for being able to do such a crazy thing and being thankful that I was able to make it all the way to Him. 

Even for believers, sometimes these types of narratives take on a more mythological aura. We hear it in the context of a time 2,000 years ago and try to make literal correlations, like my cruise ship analogy. However, if I look at my life, I have been called to “walk on water” that had nothing to do with water, but with writing. Nine years ago, I felt a calling to write a faith blog. I had every excuse as to why I shouldn’t: there’s plenty of other people doing it, I don’t have the knowledge to do that, it’s a lot of extra work, etc. Yet each excuse was knocked down, many times as I was praying in front of the Holy Sacrament. It took almost a year for me to get going, but in February 2015 I posted my first weekly faith blog. Go ahead, call me crazy. Sometimes I think I must be! There are times when I have no idea what I’m going to write. Other times I know exactly what I want to write but what comes out is not what I thought it would be. God always makes a way… His way.

Living a Christian life of faith may not always be an adrenaline rush, but it certainly has its moments that leave one in wonder and amazement. Perhaps even in reflection, seeming a bit crazy?

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”

1 Corinthians: 25