boat – The Faith Cafe

Posted on January 8, 2024January 4, 2024 by Lori Cartmell

The Ultimate Makeover

We all love before-and-after transformations, don’t we?

The dramatic TV makeover that transforms a Plain Jane into a femme fatale.

Or the renovation that turns a dated, nondescript room into something fit for the pages of “House Beautiful” magazine.

But TV shows and magazines aren’t the only places to find dramatic makeovers.

There are astonishing before-and-after changes in the Bible, too.

One example of this is found in Peter, the brash, impulsive disciple of Jesus. A bit hot-headed, Peter was often afflicted by “foot-in-mouth” disease.

When we first meet Peter, he’s working as a fisherman. When Jesus provides the group with a miraculous catch of fish after they’d worked all night and caught nothing, Peter is scared. He says, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ((Luke 5:1-10)

The demonstration of Jesus’ holiness and miracle-working power leaves Peter shaken.

Another snapshot of Peter is seen when he and the disciples are in a boat with Jesus. A storm whips up and they are afraid for their lives; Jesus, however, is asleep. Peter and the others wake Jesus up and say, “Don’t you care that we’re about to die?” (Matthew 8:23-27)

The prospect of imminent death rattles Peter.

Our last view of Peter occurs when Jesus has been arrested. Peter skulks around to see what will become of him while at the same time trying to disassociate himself from Jesus. When a of couple servant girls insist that he was definitely a friend of Jesus, Peter doesn’t have the courage to admit it. (Matthew 26:69-74)

The possibility of getting in trouble compels Peter to clam up about the truth.

But what a difference a day makes!

I’m referring, of course, to Resurrection day!

Posted on October 23, 2023October 16, 2023 by Lori Cartmell

The Cure for Seasickness

Ever been to sea?

If you have, you just might have experienced a bout of seasickness. For landlubbers, the first time on a boat that is rolling and pitching on the waves can produce feelings of nausea.

Why is this?

The problem is a disconnect between the messages your eyes and your inner ear are giving your brain. If you’re in an enclosed space on a boat, your eyes tell you that you’re standing on level ground. The fluids swishing around in your inner ear, however, tell a different story: that you’re being tossed to and fro. It’s the contradictions between these messages that produces the sensation of seasickness.

So what’s the solution?

A time-tested remedy for seasickness is to get up on deck and look at the horizon: it’s the only thing that isn’t moving when the boat you’re aboard encounters heavy seas.

Looking at a fixed target gives your eyes a stationary point of reference, allowing your brain to reconcile this information with the motions your inner ear is reporting. Once you can see what “level” is, your brain can more easily deal with the feeling of movement from your inner ear.

And this isn’t just an old-wives’ tale: scientific studies have backed up the idea that staring at the horizon actually does make you feel steadier while at sea.

But what if you’re on dry land and feel “seasick” with the turbulence in your life?

What if it feels like the challenges in your life have put you in heavy, roiling seas, and you can barely tell up from down?

The same advice applies: focus on a fixed point, something that can be relied upon not to change.

For believers, that thing is Jesus.

Posted on October 16, 2023September 28, 2023 by Lori Cartmell

Who Floats Your Boat?

Today we have a special treat—a guest post by my dear friend Veronica Gerber. Be encouraged by her insights into the story of Jesus stilling the storm!

“That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’

“He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

“He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’

“They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’” (Mark 4:35-41)

In this true-life adventure story that Mark recounts for us, Jesus is roused by the cries of his disciples and dramatically calms the storm.

Are you also in a storm? Perhaps you are a believer and so Jesus is already living in your heart—in your boat so to speak—but you feel as if he’s asleep?

Posted on November 23, 2020October 31, 2020 by Lori Cartmell · 3 Comments

How Are You Sleeping?

How have you been sleeping recently? Do you find yourself waking at night, worried about the future?

Wish you could sleep as soundly as your pet?

Cats and dogs have an advantage when it comes to sleeping deeply. They’re predator animals: in the wild, canines and felines are hunters. Large predator mammals generally spend more time in deep non-REM sleep than their prey.

Prey animals such as rabbits or deer, the hunted, spend more time in lighter non-REM sleep. They also experience very little REM sleep at all. Their survival is dependent on being permanently alert, and the paralysis of REM sleep would make them too vulnerable to their predators.

I wonder if the poor sleep we humans often experience relates to our feeling “hunted,” relentlessly chased by worries, deadlines, and obligations?

Is there a way we can calm our anxious minds and get a good night’s rest?

Yes! I believe the Bible offers some tips to help us sleep better.