Staying Calm

Coping during the storms of life

by Claire Law

Suitable for Whole School (Sec)

Aims

To explore the work of the RNLI and consider storms as a metaphor for challenges in life.

Preparation and materials

• Have available an image of the RNLI’s logo and the means to display it during the assembly. An example is available at: https://tinyurl.com/3vcrwmcm
• Have available the following videos and the means to show them during the assembly:
  
  - ‘A race to rescue two youths struggling in the water’, available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09x7p5k (1.12 minutes long)
  - A video about the RNLI’s key water safety messages, available at: https://tinyurl.com/r7eytxr5 (1minute long)
  - ‘Mini-meditation’ by Headspace, available at: https://youtu.be/cEqZthCaMpo (1.10 minutes long)
• Optional: you may wish to prepare a student to read the Bible passage Mark 4.35–39 in the ‘Assembly’, Step 5.

Assembly

1. Welcome the students to the assembly and explain that you are going to show them a logo. You would like them to identify the organization that the logo represents.
   
   Show the image of the RNLI’s logo.
   
   Listen to a range of responses.
   
   
2. Explain that this logo belongs to the RNLI: the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
   
   The RNLI is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Its volunteer lifeboat crews provide a 24-hour rescue service, and its seasonal lifeguards look after people on busy beaches. Since it was established in 1824, the RNLI has saved over 143,900 lives. If any of you have ever watched the BBC Two programme, Saving Lives at Sea, you will have some idea of what the RNLI does.
   
   
3. Explain that you are going to show a short clip from Saving Lives at Sea that shows RNLI volunteers helping to save the lives of two teenagers in danger of drowning.
   
   Show the video ‘A race to rescue two youths struggling in the water’ (1.12 minutes long).
   
   
4. The RNLI also seeks to educate people about the risks that are associated with open water. If we get into difficulty in open water, our instinct is to panic and try to swim quickly, flapping our arms and legs. However, if we fight our instinct by staying calm and floating, we can increase our chance of surviving and being rescued. Floating helps rescue services such as the RNLI to spot people in the water, and also helps to promote slow, calm breathing, which makes survival more likely.
   
   Show the video about the RNLI’s key water safety messages (1minute long).
   
   
5. Tell the students that there is a passage in the Bible when Jesus’ disciples get into difficulty in open water. Many of the disciples were experienced fisherman, so they were used to being out on the water, sometimes in difficult conditions. They knew the risks that open water presented, particularly when a storm was brewing.
   
   They fished in the Sea of Galilee, a large freshwater lake. However, the lake could sometimes experience sudden, violent storms. A passage in Mark’s Gospel describes how the disciples found themselves fearing for their lives during one such storm.
   
   Optional: ask the prearranged student to read the Bible passage Mark 4.35–39.
   
   Jesus Calms the Storm
   
   That day, when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’
   He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
   
   
6. In this passage, the disciples were at risk of drowning and they knew it. We hear that Jesus demonstrated his power over nature by performing a miracle. His words - ‘Be still’ - were aimed at the waves and the storm, but they might also have been aimed at the disciples’ sense of panic. Jesus’ words might have helped to steady both the disciples and the waves.

Time for reflection

High waves, storms and choppy seas can also be metaphors for parts of our lives. We don’t need to live close to the sea to have a sense of what fear, terror and panic are. In fact, the English language contains many turns of phrase that relate to seas and choppy waters as a metaphor for all kinds of difficulties.

For example, we speak of swimming against the tide to explain some type of struggle.

We might say that we are in deep water or out of our depth when we feel that we lack the resources to manage a difficult situation.

People speak of being all at sea when they feel confused. They might say that they need someone to throw them a lifeline.

We even say that we feel like we’re drowning when a huge list of expectations weighs upon us.

So, what can we take from the story of Jesus calming the storm and the example of the RNLI that might inspire us in our daily lives?

Let’s think about the idea of being still as a means to cope with various difficulties. As we saw in the RNLI video, remaining calm and lying still helps to reduce panic and increases our chance of survival. Jesus tells the waves (and perhaps the disciples too) to be still. When we experience any kind of difficulty or stress, being still and finding ways to achieve calmness can help.

Slow breathing can really help to calm our nervous system when we feel fearful or overwhelmed. That’s why smart watches and fitness tracker apps often include tools that can help us to slow our breathing.

In a moment, we will try some slow breathing to see if it helps us to feel calm and still. We’re going to watch a video by Headspace, a company that specializes in meditation. The video covers some of the principles that are often recommended with calm breathing.   

Show the video ‘Mini-meditation’ by Headspace (1.10 minutes long).

We can use this form of slow breathing whenever we feel that panic might be building. It is also a tool that we can use each day as a form of self-care and to promote well-being.

For many people, prayer and meditation on the words of Jesus are another tool that they turn to when they feel that they are in difficulty. Jesus’ simple phrase - ‘Be still’ - which is also found in the Book of Psalms, has been used for centuries as a prayerful mantra that is repeated silently to settle the heart, mind and breathing.

Let’s take a moment to try silently repeating that phrase to ourselves as we breathe. Aim to repeat the phrase silently and slowly. You may find it helpful to think ‘be’ on your in-breath and ‘still’ on your out-breath. We’ll have time to repeat that phrase several times. Let’s try it now.

Staying calm and finding support for stillness is helpful for both the literal and metaphorical storms of life.

Prayer
Dear God,
We have heard about the RNLI’s work in saving people from drowning, through both rescue at sea and educational campaigns.
We thank you for the time and service that RNLI volunteers dedicate to this valuable work.
We have also heard how Jesus’ words, ‘Be still’, saved the disciples from drowning.
We are likely to face many times of challenge or difficulty in our lives. 
We may feel like we are in choppy waters, or drowning in some way.
Please help us to find ways to be calm.
Settle our minds and our breathing, and save us from being overwhelmed by the storms of life.
Amen.