We humans are full of pride. We depend on our own resources and
think we can solve any problem by applying our wit and energy.
Meanwhile, the problems pile up. Wars proliferate. Hunger abounds.
The ecology deteriorates. There is poverty, homelessness,
unemployment. Frustration drives some to crime. Others seek relief
in drugs.
Perhaps one day we will realize that it will take more than our
feeble efforts to rid the world of these problems. It will take the
power of God, the one who “shut within doors the sea and made
the clouds its garment.”
Humans alone against the great injustices of the world are like the
disciples in the boat during the storm. They are helpless, unable to
control these primal forces.
If only they would realize that they have with them the Lord of the
universe, the one who can make the wind and the sea obey!
If only they would not be so lacking in faith, then maybe, by
joining their efforts with the power of the almighty God, they could
say to all the warmongers and haters and oppressors of the world:
“Quiet! Be still!”
Any interpretation that restricts the human predicament to a single, well-circumscribed problem, soluble through structural changes alone, is bound to be dangerously one-sided. Even to expect the solution of all human suffering or all social justice from revolution or social reform is to prepare oneself for bitter disillusionment.
