If any one doubted the power of word and gesture, that should have been dispelled this week by the actions of a certain footballer whose removal of two bottles of cola at a news conference, wiped -was it $4billion?- from the share value of the manufacturer.
It's likely to be a temporary blip, but nevertheless, I doubt that Ronaldo would realise the financial impact of his gesture, and his one-word endorsement of water as an alternative.
It's unsettling to realise what impact a word, a gesture might have; the wounds we carry from something said or done years ago, the affirmation we still feel from that hug, that look, those few words when we needed them.
So I have little difficulty in accepting that the word Jesus spoke to the storm on the Sea of Galilee (from today's gospel in Mark chapter 4) had power. Spoken by the one characterised as 'The Word' , with all the authority of God behind him, behind the calming words he spoke. Rinaldo has cast new light on this for me.
Let's imagine the words to the storm were 'Be still'. Behind them comes the unbidden phrase '......and know that I am God'. All words and gestures from Jesus lead to that- the power of knowing in the silence and stillness, the One Who Is.
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