May 19th

"And they went and woke him up, saying, 'Lord, save us! We are perishing!'" Matthew 8:25

they know our names
all too well in these times—
those winds which whisper
despair down hospital corridors,
those storms which blow
hate across borders of nations,
those chill breezes which sit
by empty beds and emptier tables.
and still, we grasp the sides
of our frail coracles,
woven from strips of fear,
patched with words of outrage,
laden with cargos of grief.
and those frightening words
screamed by disciples ages ago,
are now echoed by weary teachers,
parents standing by gravesides,
the forgotten, the refugees, the lonely
and somewhere, from out of the chaos—
not with anger at our fear
but with hands callused by mercy,
you are there,
touching first the storm within us,
then speaking the unexpected grace
we forget too easily,
‘peace,’
and we dare rest in
the stillness of your presence.

(c) 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman