Faith Like David Hasslehoff.

Peter actually walked on water!

I don't know if I have ever realized that. I tend to focus so much on the fact that Peter failed, that he fell and that he had very little faith. Well, good grief, he ACTUALLY walked on water! Sure, it was only for a couple of seconds, but still, he did it. This is just blowing me away. Seriously, our circles seem to get so onboard the train of thought that focuses on the negative things of the story of Jesus walking on the water. We want to somehow justify or reconcile our own failures and weaknesses by saying, "Hey, if Peter, Jesus' closest compadre, fails, then my many failures are easily overlookable. (Is that a word?)" We narrow our thinking to just the shortcomings of Peter in this story, and it has hidden this crazy truth from me for so long. Peter did walk on that water. He got out, stood on the liquid, began moving forward, and walked on top of water. And then, yes, he did get a little farther and proceed to take the faith out of the situation, but he still did more than I could dream of doing.

I used to feel real good about myself when I read this story. I used to think, "Well, gosh-darn it, would you look at that, Peter and I are one and the same." Somehow I convinced myself that my faith and the faith of Peter the Rock were pretty much the same. I would always make the conclusion that if Peter stepped out and started to drown, my many near-death drowning experiences were completely the same. I am just as good as Peter. Peter and I are like this, "Wrapping middle-finger around index-finger." (Check back a few posts. You'll laugh.)

And then again, truth, as it seems to do, swoops in on it's impressive wingspan and casts it's looming shadow over my idealistic Christian existence, and I realize, I have never walked on water. I have never even touched it. Mostly I spend my time looking at it and contemplating how to go about it. Actually, it's really like Peter has sent me a post card from the Sea of Galilee where it has a great shot of the water with a fishing boat out in the distance and then in early-90's neon writing it says, "Wish you were walking on it..." And then on the back, he goes on to regail me with the awesome story of his experience on top of the water, asks how my family is, if I took the Immodium, and other such post-cardy nonsense.

No, seriously, at this point, I am light-years away from a Peterish life. The guy had the faith to get out of a boat, in the middle of a raging storm, no PFD, probably layers of clothing, and try to walk on top of the water. Now, normally, people don't do a lot of walking on water. That would make shows like Baywatch nowhere near as dramatic. Imagine seeing someone drowning out in the middle of the Pacific, no one around, no one to help them. All hope seems lost, and then you see it. You see the trademark running, the running that captures the imaginations of would-be lifeguards everywhere, with the legs pumping like pistons, the arms swinging like real-quick pendulums, the bosom bouncing up and down like a mother kangaroo rushing to save her young from being fangoriously devoured by the monstrous mandibles of the laughing hyena. And then the camera pans out to reveal the runner in all its glory... David Hasselhoff. He sprints like mad to the edge of the beach, grabs his little red thing that they always have strapped on but never seem to use, spreads into a perfect dive headed to the rolling swells of the ocean, when BAM! He just smacks down hard and skids across the top. Of course, he jumps up, unfazed, and continues the running, this time, along the tops of the very swells he used to dive under. Eventually, after what seems like hours of the slow-mo running crap, he reaches the person in need and swiftly scoops them up out of danger and into his huge, gun-like arms, cradling them until the final credits roll...

Sorry.

People don't walk on water all that often. And sure, you can try and say that they were in 2 inches of water, but don't you think some of them would have noticed? "Aaagh! This storm is terribly frightening! What will we do? Oh, there's shore. Less than two feet away. Phewf." I can't seem to think of a single instance in which I have witnessed someone walking on water. I suppose that would be because, oh, I don't know... THAT'S CRAZY.


Oi. More later.


Dtn Splndr, Ayoa Eo.