In a famous picture of the Crucifixion the Cross is depicted soaring against a dark background of cloud, over the quiet waters of Genesareth—it recalls that moment when the Lord awakened from slumber in the heart of the storm and spoke the words … ‘peace, be still’ … and immediately there was a great calm.

It may have happened to many of you, as it happened to the disciples on Peter's ship, to undergo a moment of great physical distress, to be lost in the cloud or the desert, to have the sea raging about you, to see no way out from a lingering disease. Such moments of physical imprisonment are paralleled by spiritual distress, the soul in a state of utter loneliness and desolation … ‘My God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ There is no harbour visible, no landmark, no sense of direction; only barren snow or solitary sand, indifferent glances, the howling of air or sea.