Video Update from Dean Thompson

Hello, Cathedral Family and Friends! I’m reaching out today both to share an update on me and to offer a good word. As you know, I’ve been away from the Cathedral for the past several weeks. Last January, I had back surgery to repair a badly herniated disc. That surgery “failed,” as they say, and I had a second surgery on May 17, again, to repair the disc, relieve pain, and restore strength to my right leg. The good news is that the May 17 surgery seems to have accomplished its purposes, thanks be to God. Unfortunately, ten days after that surgery, I experienced a tear in the dura mater, or the sheath that surrounds the nerve. That caused a severe spinal fluid leak, including incapacitating spinal headaches. The tear had to be fixed by yet a third surgery on June 9 and a lumbar spinal drain, which entailed a full week in the hospital. The entire ordeal was both frightening and taxing. I’m doing much better now, but I’m following my surgeon’s orders meticulously and only very slowly moving back into daily living.

After I sprung the spinal fluid leak, I had to lie flat on my back in the bed for what turned out to be fifteen days. I’ve never come so close to thinking I might sink. That kind of idle time gives one pause to do a lot of thinking and praying, and my own mind returned again and again to the tempest in the fourth chapter of Mark’s Gospel. Jesus and the disciples are traveling across the Sea of Galilee at night. A supernatural storm arises and begins to capsize their boat. The disciples are terrified, but Jesus sleeps serenely through the storm. In the disciples’ fear and anxiety, they awaken Jesus, who then stills the storm and asks the disciples, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have so little faith?” Often this passage is taught and preached as if Jesus means by his questions, “Didn’t you know God wouldn’t let our boat capsize?” But Jesus means no such thing. He doesn’t promise that everything will turn out just fine, or that the boat will keep an even keel. Jesus lives in the gritty, real world, and he knows that sometimes storms upend our lives. What Jesus means to convey to the disciples is that, even when the storms sink us, God is with us. That is how he can sleep in peace while the tempest rages.

God abides with us in love when we sail and when we sink. God shares our joy and bears our sorrow. Faith is the recognition and trust that there is no fathom we must endure without God. I have thought of this passage and this promise repeatedly these past several weeks. There is no storm in this life greater than the God who creates the heavens and the earth. There is no darkness in this world that can overcome God’s light. It is my prayer that God’s ever-presence with each of us be felt palpably in these days. We are, each and all, loved beyond measure, and we never travel the waves alone.

Three back surgeries in six months takes a toll on a body, but God willing, I’ll be back in the office at the Cathedral very soon. Meanwhile, I’m grateful for your prayers and for your faith. Blessings to you.

Grace and peace,
Barkley
The Very Reverend Barkley Thompson, Dean