Who would believe it? The man can sleep:
Sleep through the howls of wind,
the hiss of waves, the groan of wood,
the crack of timber, the despairing human voice!

“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

Who would believe it? That God can sleep:
Sleep through the howls of parents,
the hiss of falsehoods, the groan of defenders,
the crack of cages, the despairing voices of children!

“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

Do you not care?

And the Teacher stands and replies:

“Do you not care?
Rebuke this howling wind
that hisses falsehoods, makes the righteous groan,
confines weeping children in crashing cages.
Rebuke this wind, I say. Rebuke it.

“And then, let there be peace.”

A prayer based on Mark 4:35-41, the Gospel Lesson for Year B, Proper 7.

The image is an illustration from the Hitda Codex, commissioned about 1020 for Abbess Hitda of Meschede, Germany.