The Storm

On the Lake and The Storm are two different dramas based on the same incident. The latter leaps straight into the action - full of the tension, danger and excitement. The former begins where the scripture passage ends - with the question of who Jesus is. The two were written on different occasions and have both been included here without any attempt at merging the accounts or reconciling the details. In both dramas it is important that the voices be raised above the storm and in urgency.
Reader:Mark 4.35-37.
PETER:Thomas, over here! Grab that bucket and start bailing like mad!
JOHN:Nathanael, give me a hand to get this sail down!
ANDREW:Bartholomew, stop panicking! Move over to that side of the boat! Yes - even it up! So we don't go in!
JAMES:Judas, can't you see John and Nathanael are having strife with that sail? It has to be tied up so it won't flap all over the place!
PETER:One of the ropes holding the mast has worked loose. I need another three over here right away! James, you come too - you know the ropes!
ANDREW:Worst waves I've seen in a long time! One, two, three buckets out - where's the fourth bucket? We need it urgently!
JOHN:It got washed overboard with the first big wave! It should be trailing there on its rope - if the rope hasn't broken!
JAMES:Philip, make yourself useful over here, will you? We're having trouble with this rope! If the mast goes, the whole boat could break up!
ANDREW:Here's another bucket, Thaddeus! Left hand on the rim, right hand on the bottom, and shovel the water out! Get the idea?
JOHN:Hey! We've forgotten about Jesus! Where is he?
Reader:Mark 4.38-41.
From Between the Lines. Dialogues for Worship by Peter J. Blackburn published by Testimonium Fellowship 1992, (c) Peter J. Blackburn.
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