Mk 4:35-41 Quieted and Stilled

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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By FR ALFONSE NAZZARO

On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples: "Let us cross to the other side." Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.  ...A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up.  Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.

Do you remember Adam Smith?  You know, the man who videotaped himself going through a drive through and slamming a young (and very kind) female attendant at Chick-fil-A?  Well, have you heard what has happened to him since?

He is living on food stamps with his wife and four children in the RV they are calling home.

Adam Smith went from CFO (and a $200,000 salary) to unemployable.  He said companies are afraid to hire him.  Why? They consider him to be a liability and a distraction. Unfortunately, his name will forever be associated with that awful conversation and video he envisioned and took and posted all by himself.

He has lost everything, except his wife and kids.  Thank God!

I do not condone at all what Adam did.  I just wish for him it didn't have to be forever.  Nature never intended human beings to relive their mistakes forever.  But that's what video (Youtube and the likes) does, for better and for worse.  You may be thinking, "Well, he should have known better!" Or, "He should have thought twice." Or, "He should have minded his own business."

Unfortunately, these arguments are meaningless since they ignore human nature.  We - He - is not robot but a human being, and human beings don't always act like they were programmed to.  

We, humans, are made up of lots of good physical and objective stuff.  But we also have plenty emotions and passions to go along with it all.  That's the way nature and our Creator intended things to be.  

I don't know how Adam does it.  I don't know how he doesn't blame himself or hate himself every single day.  I don't know how he doesn't break down and cry in front of his wife and kids and beg for their forgiveness.  Does he check every day to see how his name appears in Google?  Does he scan the internet to see if anyone wrote something positive about him?  Or does he stay far away from it.

Who will give him another chance?  Who will give him a chance to have another crack at life?  

I don't know if Adam is a believer.  I do know he isn't much different from the very first Adam who screwed his life up.  I also know he isn't much different from all of us.  I guess the only real difference is that we escaped the lens of the video camera.  

I feel sorry for Adam.  I think about him and his wife and children from time to time.  I'd love to reach out to him.  I'm sure he is an extraordinary man.  What would I tell him?  I'd share with him today's Gospel passage, where Christ took the raging seas and strong winds and calmed things done.  If He calmed these things down, then what's to prevent him from calming all things down, including us?