By the seashore stood Jesus, gazing at the splendour of the rising sun. It was very quiet as he stood there underneath a tree. A cool, refreshing breeze blew from the sea, and as it blew, the tree tops swayed gently. A few clouds rested on the far-off blue mountains.
There came to him a disciple with questioning eyes and looking at him, Jesus said, “What disturbs thee, my child?”
And the disciple said, “Master, how is it that thou canst walk upon the surface of the sea as easily as thou dost walk upon the earth? But when we enter into the waters, we flounder and begin to sink!”
And Jesus said, “He who hath faith in his heart and in whose eyes is the light of certainty — he well may walk upon the waters with the ease of a fisherman’s boat!”
And the disciple said, “Master, ever since I saw thee first, I have not lacked in faith. I believe as thou dost believe and my faith makes me feel certain!”
And Jesus said, “Then come with me and together we shall tread the waters!” The disciple followed and both Master and disciple walked upon the waters. Suddenly a big wave arose Jesus rode the wave but the disciple began to sink.
And Jesus called out, “My child, what has happened to you?”
There was terror in the disciple’s voice as he answered, “Master, when I saw huge waves coming towards me as though they would swallow me up, fear arose within my heart and I began to sink. Save me, beloved Master, else I shall be drowned”
And Jesus said, “Alas! my child, you feared the waves. You did not behold the Lord of the waves!”
*Dec 25 is Christmas Day.
Dada J P Vaswani is a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader
