When you have to listen to abuse, that means you are being
buffeted by the wind. When your anger is
roused, you are being tossed by the waves.
So when the winds blow and the waves mount high, the boat is in danger,
your heart is imperiled, your heart is taking a battering. On hearing yourself insulted, you long to
retaliate; but the joy of revenge brings with it another kind of misfortune –
shipwreck. Why this? Because Christ is asleep in you. What do I mean? I mean you have forgotten His presence. Rouse Him, then; remember Him, let Him keep
watch within you, pay heed to Him… A temptation arises: it is the wind. It disturbs you: it is the surging of the sea. This is the moment to awaken Christ and let Him
remind you of those words: Who then is
this whom even wind and sea obey?
--St. Augustine of Hippo (391-430AD), Sermons, 63,1-3
Image source: Rembrandt, Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, 1633
(For more information about this painting, which was stolen in 1990 and never recovered, click here.)
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