The Voice That Travels On The Waters
“On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, Jesus was standing by the lake, and he saw two boats, but the fishermen had left them to wash their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to push him out a little ways from shore and he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish. Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” - Luke 5:1-4
Notice a few things.
Crowds wanting to hear words from God.
Someone pushing Jesus away.
Jesus speaking from a boat where his voice would carry on the water.
Jesus leading people to deeper waters.
The instruction to do something that seems like it won’t work because you’ve tried it over and over, even just a few moments ago.
But something is about to happen after the Voice has travelled on the waters.
The waters carry a significant meaning with a practicality in this story. If you’ve been to a lake with people on it, you know their voices can be heard from long distances because of how their voices travel across the waters. That’s the practicality of being on the water. The deeper meaning is how our bodies are made of much water and there is a Voice that travels upon them to our deepest parts. Parts that seem we’ve explored (or haven’t) over and over again. Yet when we finally listen, something begins to emerge from our depths we didn’t realize was there. The Voice travels across our waters and carries us with it into the boat of meaning. When we listen and do what that Voice says, seemingly impossible things we’ve done over and over, begin to work.
When A Mother Finally Lets Go
Mothers have an interesting knack for over-protection. Left to themselves, especially without the balance of the masculine, they become protected unto themselves and how they think things should happen, to keep people safe or to get things done. This protective instinct is a gift, but it must be married to the dangerous wonder of living life to the fullest, where trouble and risk must happen. This requires trust to be developed in the human being.
I imagine Jesus’ mother was constantly trying to figure her son out, much like ourselves. She never quite knew what he was going to do and would ask him to do things, but he would tell her no, or he would run off ahead of the family leaving her to wonder if he is lost. We see the moment she finally surrenders to things not happening as she thinks they should, or when they should. And it happens at a wedding. A deeper trust was about to be married in her, as she finally gave up trying to figure it all out. These are the last recorded words from her in the scriptures.
“Do whatever he tells you.”
She was probably on her zillionth dialogue with her son to do or not do something, this time, to get more wine since it had run out during a wedding celebration. Jesus responded to her with a son’s frustration of a nagging mother, that this has nothing to do with him, though I imagine he may have said it with a sly smile, making her come further out into that giving up point, like I have no idea how to control my son who never listens and smiles at me making me more frustrated. Mothers and parents, you know exactly what this feels like. In her exhaustion, she tells the servants listening to the back and forth exchange to just do whatever he says.
At this point the Voice was about to travel on the waters. Jesus tells the servants to fill six jugs with water. Then he tells them to draw the water out, as His voice is drawing something deeper out, and to give it to the master of the celebration. When the master tasted it, he tasted the best wine. Something else came from something seemingly unable to be possible. Like Simon reluctantly believing something would happen after fishing all night only to catch more fish than thought possible, listening to the Voice brings about a transformation of our reality and expectations.
We too, can become masters of celebration.
In both these stories we face our human frustration with the Divine Voice. We see a reaching the end of ourselves and our logic as a Voice travels across our waters inviting us to push a little ways from the shore of our crowded and familiar lives. As we access the deeper waters, something emerges to resonate with us on a deeper level. We find our everyday moments transformed into something more abundant, something to celebrate when we let go of our expectations and just listen, rather than doing things the same way over and over again.
We turn frustration into the wine of celebration.
And we notice the difference between doing things from within the Divine Voice rather than the over-protective argumentative voices in our heads
Our invitation then, is to listen, at least one more time, until we are actually surrendered for our own heart to say, “Do whatever he tells you” or “Because you have said it, I will try one more time.” We might have to, paradoxically, push Jesus away from us to hear more clearly what He is really saying, which allows His voice to give a broader perspective when traveling across our waters. As His voice travels farther and wider, they reach our own depths, taking us deeper into finally hearing what is being said. Time then, will emerge beyond our normal expectations into the Eternal where things are married to come forth in the proper way. In fact, time might finally be revealed for what it is and isn't.
So first, push out a little ways from shore, and listen.
Then go to where it is deeper and let down your net. (Let down/surrender your own understanding, reasons, and logic.)
Here is where deep calls out to deep within us.
Something unexpected will emerge from the waters of our everyday life now carrying us in the Voice.
-PH
Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. - Psalm 42:7
I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters… - Revelation 14:2