“I’m Here! Presence in the Storms and Parades of Life”

Last updated on: August 19, 2013 at 11:38 am by Jeff Hood

“I’m Here! Presence in the Storms and Parades of Life” 2013-08-19T11:38:37-06:00 Jeff Hood

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“Blossoming Presence in the Midst of Storm”

In life we consistently encounter storms. Some are big. Some are small. The truth for me is that I seem to always be walking into a storm, through a storm, or out of a storm. I think this is the case for any person who is actually living. I actually would argue that if you haven’t seen a storm in a while then you probably aren’t doing too much.

The disciples were in a boat in the middle of a lake in the middle of a raging storm that for all intents and purposes was going down really quickly. How many of you have been similar storms? Life is raging and you are going down. In the midst of this storm, Jesus appeared and declared, “I’m here.” The storm calmed, the lightening stopped and the waves subsided…all with one phrase, “I’m here.” How often do people simply need to hear that one phrase “I’m here” to calm their storm?

Yesterday, a few of us marched in the North Texas State Fair Parade. For most of the other marchers and floats, this was a time of joyous carefree celebration. This was not the case for me. I am privy to too many of the emails and phone calls that our church gets. I guess I know enough to be afraid.

One of the more difficult moments in the parade for me came when we were about to reach The Denton Square. There might have been upwards of a thousand or more people standing out there. This was the height of my anxiety.

I saw a tremendous amount of unfriendly faces and I knew that the announcer was about to call out our name. I looked around at the people from our church that were marching with me and gave thanks for their presence. I didn’t want to let anyone else know that I was afraid. The silence was deafening.

The announcer called out, “The Church At Mable Peabody’s…a church for all people that loves all people.” For a brief moment, there was silence. Then, scattered throughout the crowd there was intermittent loud applause, cheers, and words of approval. For me, these individuals were Jesus. In the midst of the storm of my anxiety, these individuals had the courage to say, “I’m here.”

When I arrived home after the parade, there was a message on the church’s Facebook page from a young lady. She wrote:

“I saw your church in the parade this morning. I wanted to thank you for marching. In spite of the many storms in my life, it is nice to know that God is still speaking and standing with the oppressed.”

For the young lady, by marching in the parade…The Church at Mable Peabody’s loudly declared, “I’m here.”

Jesus calmed the storm with mere presence.

May we never stop doing the same.

Amen.

fresh writings

Sermon

Previous Post

August 15, 2013

Queer Love or God Finds Us in Queer Spaces

Next Post

August 20, 2013 apoem: "absence: a reflection of faith"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Danny & Jeff fresh writings latest poetics north texas fellowship of reconciliation Sermon theology from death row Thoughts Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Gethsemane" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Garden Oil press Spring Olive tree