[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.24.1″ custom_padding=”0px||”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.22.3″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/XUQaVQC1QYk” image_src=”\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/XUQaVQC1QYk\/hqdefault.jpg” play_icon_color=”rgba(58,224,224,0.67)” thumbnail_overlay_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” _builder_version=”3.24.1″ border_color_all=”#1fd7e0″ border_style_all=”groove” max_width=”90%” module_alignment=”center” play_icon_color__hover_enabled=”on”][\/et_pb_video][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.24.1″ custom_padding=”20px||”]<\/p>\n
[NOTE:<\/strong> Special thanks to the men in my reflection group during the Come before Winter Renewal in Namibia, Africa. They were the first to hear me tell this story, and their feedback led to many of the insights in my reflections below.]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Rapid shifts in pace characterize this short story. It swings between long phrases that encourage the storyteller to speak quickly and concise statements that invite the teller to slow down and allow space for silence. For example, you might visualize the phrasing of 8:22\u201324 in the following way:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One day he got into a boat with his disciples, A windstorm swept down on the lake, The longer lines indicate phrases that will require quicker speech to complete in one natural breath. The shorter lines, on the other hand, visualize places where the pace slows. The phrasing encourages the teller to pause between phrases for breaths: \u201cSo they put out, . . . and while they were sailing . . . he fell asleep.\u201d Or, \u201cThey ceased, . . . and there was calm.\u201d And, of course, the pacing of the language fits the movement of the story. Slowing down at those moments invites the audience to feel the calm before the storm (as the peaceful sailing puts Jesus to sleep) and the tranquility after the storm (as the risen Jesus silences the raging tempest).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The audience soon learns, however, that this second calm also precedes unrest. Jesus\u2019s question injects tension into the scene, and the disciples\u2019 response brings the story to an end without complete resolution. The pacing again moves from quick to slow; but, this time, the pauses create space for wonder and puzzlement more than peace and calm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, When learning the story, I noticed a small detail that had earlier eluded me. Jesus asks a question directly to the disciples\u2014\u201cWhere is your faith?\u201d\u2014but they never directly answer. To be sure, the story closes with a line of dialogue from the disciples that has been prompted by Jesus\u2019s question, but they fail to answer his question. Instead, they ask \u201cone another\u201d a question, \u201cWho is this?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The disciples\u2019 question, and their failure to answer Jesus, leaves the audience with a decision. Do we laugh at the disciples and their hardheadedness? In the hands of a good storyteller, this \u201cmissed-communication\u201d at the end of the story could become a humorous moment in the gospel. On the other hand, we could also find ourselves identifying with the disciples. By having the disciples fail to answer Jesus\u2019s question, the narrator can forward the question to the audience: \u201cWhere is <\/span>your<\/span><\/i> faith?\u201d (And, with intentional vocal inflection and eye contact, the performer can ensure that the audience hears this question forwarded to them.) An encounter with Christ\u2019s power may leave us \u201cafraid and amazed.\u201d I thought I knew him; I thought I had him all figured out. Now, I\u2019m wondering if I can be so sure. Who is this?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Learning and telling this story led me to appreciate a delightfully ambiguous pronoun in 8:24. After Jesus rebukes the wind and waves, the narrator tells us, \u201c<\/span>they<\/span><\/i> ceased and there was a calm\u201d (\u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f10\u03c0\u03b1\u03cd\u03c3\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03c9 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f10\u03b3\u03ad\u03bd\u03b5\u03c4\u03bf \u03b3\u03b1\u03bb\u03ae\u03bd\u03b7). The most likely subject for the third person masculine plural verb \u1f10\u03c0\u03b1\u03cd\u03c3\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03c9 (\u201cthey ceased\u201d) would be the wind and waves mentioned in the immediately preceding phrase. The NIV makes this choice (and eliminates the ambiguity for the English reader) by translating the phrase as \u201cthe storm subsided, and all was calm.\u201d The Greek, however, remains ambiguous (as do other English translations, such as the NRSV or ESV).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At one level, \u201cthey ceased\u201d certainly refers to the wind and waves. But the grammatical ambiguity remains open to other levels of meaning. Could the disciples themselves also be the subject of the verb? They swirl around in frantic, desperate fear (\u201cMaster, master, we are perishing!\u201d); Jesus intervenes, soothing their anxious, unsettled hearts; and they cease, settling into a calm mirrored in the tranquility of the sea.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Unfortunately, their tranquility is short-lived. The final scene of the story ends with tension. Jesus asks the disciples a question that puts in the dock. It\u2019s possible to understand this question as a second rebuke. Jesus has rebuked the wind and waves to restore calm; now he turns to the more significant rebuke. \u201cWhere is your faith?\u201d As a storyteller, I suggest this connection for my audience by using similar gestures when Jesus rebukes the storm and when he asks the question. The repeated gesture creates a visual link between those parts of the story, opening space for the audience to make (and wrestle with) the connection. The disciples\u2019 fear, more than the storm, needs rebuking. The disciples, more than the sea, need to be calmed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The same is likely true for the audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Performance Notes:\u00a0 [NOTE: Special thanks to the men in my reflection group during the Come before Winter Renewal in Namibia, Africa. They were the first to hear me tell this story, and their feedback led to many of the insights in my reflections below.]\u00a0 Story Pacing Rapid shifts in pace characterize this short story. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8023,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[198180,198157],"tags":[198162,198180,198176],"class_list":["post-132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-luke","category-performances","tag-cliff-barbarick","tag-luke","tag-luke-8"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/storiesforthesojourn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/storiesforthesojourn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/storiesforthesojourn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/storiesforthesojourn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8023"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/storiesforthesojourn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/storiesforthesojourn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/storiesforthesojourn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions\/145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/storiesforthesojourn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/storiesforthesojourn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/storiesforthesojourn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Story Pacing<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n
<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0and he said to them, \u201cLet us go across to the other side of the lake.\u201d
<\/span>So they put out,
<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0and while they were sailing
<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0he fell asleep.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger.
<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0They went to him and woke him up, shouting,
<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cMaster, Master, we are perishing!\u201d
<\/span>And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves;
they ceased,
<\/span>and there was a calm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span>\u201cWho then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water,
<\/span>and they obey him?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Question Dodging<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n
Ambiguous Calm<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n