A CONTEMPORARY SPIRITUALITY

The Bible has significant references to boats. The most familiar being the Ark into which Noah and his family took two of every species of animal to survive the Flood and then repopulate the Earth. It was a place of refuge & renewal.

Boats feature in the Gospels too. Jesus called some of His first disciples to leave their boats and to follow him. On one occasion Jesus got into a boat in order to preach to a crowd on the beach. Famously he fell asleep in a boat with His disciples and had to be woken to save them from a threatening storm. I suspect that latter story was treasured by the members of the early church as it spoke to them when they faced persecution and troubles, encouraging them to trust that their Risen Lord would look after them come what may.

Since then the Church has often seen itself as a modern day Ark, a place of shelter in dangerous waters, into which the Church calls people to come and be saved. ‘There is no salvation outside the Church.’

But today I found myself looking at a drawing by Rembrandt of a different story involving Jesus, His disciples and a boat, only in this one He is walking on the water and inviting them to get out of the boat, and to trust Him that all would be well. 

Peter finds this challenging and begins to sink until Jesus reaches out to him. Another disciple is lowering himself into the water while a third looks on. The boat meanwhile seems to be about to sail on without them

Might this be a ‘Feral Icon?’  It shows that some people are invited not to get into the boat, but are instead called by Jesus to get out of it. Not least because Jesus is to be found outside the boat rather than inside it. It’s a calling that required and requires a good deal of trust [faith] in the One Who calls.