“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:28-31

I like to swim but I am not a strong swimmer. I grew up in an island. There was always a body of water close to me. Unfortunately, familiarity is not knowledge, much less wisdom. The calmness and beauty of the water gave me the illusion that it was my friend. In reality, there is a force of destruction and chaos lurking beneath its deceptive appearance. Once I went swimming with a group of friends and learned my lesson the hard way. Thankfully, one of my friends is a strong swimmer and a lifeguard. She went out into the deep waters and I followed after her. Possibly my hidden chauvinism came into action. The current became too strong for me and I felt myself being dragged into the deep chaotic sea. Naturally, I panicked. It would have been a great moment for my faith to kick in and help me walk on water, not to mention the boost to my ego and self-esteem. Of course, nothing of that sort happened. Instead, I resorted to asking for help, more like screaming frantically actually. To be fair, it was a desperate situation. My friend saved my life. Only much later in life I understood that I did walk on water on that faithful day. It took some growing up and maturity to comprehend this. For many years, I thought Jesus chided Peter because he started to sink and became desperate. Now I realized that it is more because he offended Jesus. He thought Jesus was going to abandon him to the elements.

There is a magician who performs regularly in the area where the children hang out. He’s good fun but the locals, like myself and our homeless children, are kind of bored with him. He has a limited repertoire and often needs new audience to mesmerize them with his tricks. There are a lot of churches around the area too that preach a kind of faith similar to that of this magician. They claim faith can do a lot of things not unlike magic tricks. Many who attend these churches are initially entertained by these claims and eventually they realize a need for something more substantial. These churches, although abundant in the areas, do not have any outreach work or ministries to the thousands of homeless people around their doorsteps. Unfortunately, I am not exaggerating when I say thousands. This city has the largest homeless population in all of the the Americas. It is amazing that churches who make a show of healing the lame and sick do not have the faith to deal with real and concrete problems just outside their very doorsteps. Definitely, this is not the faith that Jesus is taking about. These are just mere magicians.

St Peter, maybe, was fascinated with the fact that Jesus walked on water. It is easy to be mesmerized by such an incredible act. However, it would be unfair to St Peter to think that he did not understand the deeper meaning of this act. He was a fisherman and no stranger to the destructive character of water. To walk on water was to have dominion and control over the power of destruction. He did not ask to walk on water for entertainment reasons. Peter was a pragmatic man. He desired to overcome the forces of destruction like Jesus. Unfortunately, the beast of chaos showed his fangs and the apostle panicked. He failed to see that Jesus was present there with him. He failed to recognize that he was not alone to face this chaos. God had sent someone to help him overcome it. Peter, understandably, was more familiar with the beastly waters but maybe was still a little insecure about his friendship with Jesus. We can appreciate his sentiments.

The beast showed its fangs to us this week on two occasions.

Bruno told us that one of the boys with whom we have closed relationship was in the hospital. He was beaten up badly and left for death. His name is Vinicius. I mentioned him before. I described him as the saddest homeless boy in the streets. He was born homeless. His mother was homeless and she raised five children all of them lived in tents in the streets. Today she has managed to rent a small place for the family. This is just a recent development. Vinicius knows nothing but homelessness. He just turned 18. We have had a relationship since he was 8. Sometimes he steals to help the family. It does not occur frequently and he tries not to do it. He told us this once. He purposely hangs out with Bruno because he knows he is a good influence. Bruno has many faults but he is a good influence in the chaotic streets. Unfortunately, a few days ago Vinicius stole a chain from someone who happened to be related to the gang members. They caught and beat up this skinny boy and left for death. Thankfully he was found by someone and brought to the hospital in time. The chain was worthless. The gang members were hardened criminals acting hypocritically on their demonic impulse. Vinicius miraculously survived. Ironically, the whole thing occurred just outside a police post and the authorities did not come out once to stop it. This is not uncommon.

Bruno’s world was in turmoil. He told us about the whole incident and he could not understand why Vinicius had to be tortured in such a manner. He made it clear that he recognized that Vinicius did something wrong. This is one of the things I like about working in the streets. No one tries to justify one’s actions. They recognize wrong to be wrong. I am not negating that there are complex issues involved. However, for practical daily living, we cannot move forward if we do not take responsibility for our actions. Vinicius does not deny that stealing is wrong neither does Bruno. However, he does not deserve to be beaten up and left for death. His life is worth more than a mere thing. Bruno was deeply perturbed by this and he wanted to talk. He wanted someone to help him make sense of his world which was clearly falling apart.

Bruno’s life is one of abuses and utter rejection. He has been in the streets almost his whole life. Now he is an adult. However, there is something remarkably different about him. I have to admit sometimes he frustrates me. This is a different story which might told another time. Bruno is highly intelligent but he realized that he would be nothing but a beggar for society. In many ways, he is not wrong. In spite of this, he is the most successful one among the young people. This is because he builds relationships with people. Once I told him that there are many lonely people in this world and sometimes he might be their only contact in society. Therefore, he could be a blessing to their lives by just giving them attention. Bruno listened. It is not that my words had changed him. It was always in him and he needed to hear it from someone else. Now he tries to make a connection with everyone who approaches him. Sometimes he spends more time with people who do not give him a single cent, especially elderly people. Bruno’s faith helped him construct a world to navigate through the chaotic and destructive waters of life. However, the issue with Vinicius made him feel insecure and unsure if he can really walk on water. He wanted to reach out to us. This was his faith in action.

As followers of Christ, the foundation of our faith is the person of Jesus. Peter saw Jesus doing something and his faith informed him that he could do it too. Of course, the text is meant for us to take it to a deeper existential level. The author wanted to show us the power of Jesus over chaotic elements of life. However, having faith does not mean that we are free from the menacing powers of destruction. To the contrary, we can see them more clearly. Peter felt safe in the boat because it gave him an illusion of safety. Faith in Jesus strips away all these illusions and gives us the courage to face the forces of destruction lurking around us. Bruno recognized something in us and wanted to know if we could help him to regain his confidence to keep walking on water.

Our faith helps us to recognize that we are not alone. I was being dragged into the ocean and my friendship saved me from death. At that moment, my friend the lifeguard was Jesus to me. She helped me walk on water. Bruno wanted to know if it was still save to walk on water because the forces of destruction had made him feel disgusted with life. We gave him our hand and he grabbed it.

Later in the week, it was our turn to confront the forces of destruction and chaos. It shook us to the core in such a way that I am not ready to talk about it. Suffice to say that it was made me feel like I was drowning. We walked away from the situation and ran into Bruno. This time we saw Jesus in Bruno. He listened to us and told us, “We will overcome and we will not succumb to the forces of destruction.” These are words of faith. Bruno reached out his hand to us and we grabbed it. Jesus is present in the midst of all this. He is the foundation of our faith. He beckons us to walk with Him on the waters of destructions and chaos. We just have to just pay attention to His voice and He speaks through the people we least expect. Not to worry, our faith will help us recognize His voice.