We join Jesus and his disciples as he has completed a long series of teachings and healing of people with various ailments and conditions. He has established himself with many as a great teacher and miracle worker and they have set off to cross the Sea of Galilee. Among the 12 are several experienced fishermen and they are traveling with a group of boats.

Galilee is actually a big lake. How big? It is big, but not huge. To put it in our context, it’s about 20% bigger than Lake Kissimmee, but less than 1/10th the size of Lake Okeechobee. It is also ringed with hills such that at lake level one would not see a violent storm approaching. Such storms can and do whip up very quickly in that region, and they are very dangerous.

Read More

Meg and I had a wonderful week of vacation. Many of you have seen the pictures I posted online of beautiful water, beaches and other sights. It was a truly lovely trip in that way. But the real draw wasn’t the tropical island of St. Maarten. It was the opportunity to spend a full week with my parents. We only get to see them in person a couple of times a year at best.

Of course, you know the core joy in that comes in sharing memories and telling stories; stories about trips and family and incidents. And, because it was just the four of us – my parents and my wife – a chunk of those conversations were recounting things about me. Things that I had said, including the fact that I was completely verbal before the age of two and basically haven’t shut up since. And then there were stories about things that I did. Most of those were familiar but some happened before I could remember and others filled in perspectives around the events of which I was unaware.

Read More