August 11,
Nineteenth Sunday of the Year Mt. 14/22-33

Background

This story was intended for those followers of Jesus who were worried about the possibility of government persecutions, opposition from other religious groups, and the very slow (as it seemed) progress of Christianity. The story says that, as President Roosevelt said when he was inaugurated on 1933, the only thing to fear is fear itself, blind unreasoning terror that paralyzes our every action. While the story was told to reassure the very early Christians, it applies to us as much as it did to them.

Story

Once upon a time there was a high school physics teacher who gave very tough tests. But he was also a good teacher and liked his students and wanted them to learn. So he emphasized the really important parts of the course and prepared the students for the exam. He even told them that if they listened carefully in class they would know what the final exam would be about. But the students really didn’t believe him. So they took copious notes of everything he said and the words passed from his lectures to their notes, without pausing in their memories. When the time came for the test, most of the students went into an advanced stage of panic. They knew that their physics grade would be very important when it came time to apply for college. So they studied like crazy, poured over their notes, and even had study sessions in which groups of students would try to study together – with rock music in the backround of course because teenagers can’t study without rock in the background. Three of the kids didn’t study at all because they hadn’t taken any notes. They went to the movies the night before the test. The test was truly fearsome. The three who hadn’t study finished in a half hour and walked out of class confidently. The rest of the class went into a wild hysteria. They forgot everything about physics they ever knew. Most of them flunked. A few ended up with Ds. Why didn’t you listen to what I said, the teacher asked, O you of little faith?

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