Dale Carnegie relates in his famous book, How to Stop
Worrying and Start Living, the resilience of a discouraged and disheartened
book salesman, John R. Antony. Antony knew his job thoroughly, but somehow he
never made many sales. Day by day, he was discouraged. He became afraid to call
on people. Even when he went in, often, he would wish that his client wouldn’t
be in the seat. The sales manager threatened to stop his advances if he didn’t
send in more orders. With decreasing sales, Antony grew depressed. The only
reason he did not commit suicide was because he did not have the courage to do
so. Since he had no one else to turn towards, he turned towards God. He asked
God to help him to give him money to feed his wife and his three children.
After the prayer he opened his eyes and saw the Bible on the dresser in the
hotel room. He opened the Bible read the words of Jesus: “Take no thought for
your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; But seek first the
kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto
you (Mt: 6: 25-33).” As he read and prayed over those words of Jesus, a miracle
happened. His anxieties, worries and fears were transformed into heart-warming
courage and hope and triumphant Faith. The next morning he got up and dressed
well and headed towards his clients with a bold and positive stride. He held
his chin high and introduced himself confidently and began his selling of the
books. From then on, he never turned back. Twenty-two years later he confessed
this truth: “That night I had become suddenly aware of my relationship with
God. A mere man alone can easily be defeated, but a man alive with the power of
God within him is invincible. I know. I saw it work in my own life.” Anthony
from his sinking state reached out to Christ and Christ lifted him up.(John Rose in John’s Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
The disciples
saw Jesus walking towards them. Whenever we are in trouble, too, Jesus is
walking towards us. He is never far from us. He is walking towards
us to take away our fears, to take away our troubles, to take away our
sorrows.
When Peter found that Jesus was walking towards them,
he cried out “Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you across the
water.” Peter expressed a desire to imitate what the master was
doing. Peter started to imitate his master with great enthusiasm, but as he
felt the force of the wind he began to sink. He was not able to sustain in his
attempt to imitate Jesus, for long. When doubts overtook him, he began to sink.
Even then Peter showed his absolute trust in Jesus. He shouted, ‘Lord Save
me.” When we too feel the force of pressure from the society, the force of
pressure from the contemporary customs, the force of pressure from
the materialistic attitude towards life we too give up our enthusiasm
to imitate Jesus, and sink like Peter. But, in our troubled moments our
prayer too should be “Lord save us.” Jesus will put out his hands to hold us.
It is the presence of Jesus which gives us peace even
in the wildest storms of life: storms of sorrow, storms of doubt, tension and
uncertainty, storms of anxiety and worries, storms of anger and despair, storms
of temptations. Storms let us know that without him we can do nothing, without
him we are doomed to fail. Yet, when Jesus shows up, we gain the strength to
join Paul, saying, “In Christ I can do all things.” But this demands a personal
relationship with God, with Jesus, enhanced through prayer, meditative study of
Scripture and active Sacramental life. Experiencing Jesus’ presence in our
lives, lets us confess our faith in him and call out for his help and
protection and say with Peter: Lord save me.
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