Stepping Out Amidst the Raging Storm

Why the Work Always Begins With You

Dear Disciple of Christ,

Peter recognized the impossible.

He saw Christ—
walking toward him
on the very water that threatened to drown his party.

The story moves you, today.

Not because he stayed in the boat,
But what moved him forward.

One foot over the edge.
Then the other.
The storm still howls.
The waves striking his legs.

And yet—
for a few trembling moments—
he walks.

Watch the video reading of this letter.

Listen to the audio reading of this letter.

Why This Moment Matters

Because most of us are not asking whether Christ exists.

We are asking whether obedience works—
when everything around us seems to be tossed to and fro—
amidst the storms of life.

The Question I’ve Been Asked for Years

For many years, I presented for NAMI—
standing in rooms filled with parents, spouses, siblings,
people desperate to help someone they love who is struggling with mental illness.

Almost without fail, someone will ask:

“What can I do to help my son?”
“My daughter?”
“My wife?”

They were not asking casually.
They were pleading.

And my answer may have surprised them.

Where Help Actually Begins

It was never first about doctors.
Or hospitals.
Or forcing compliance.

Those things matter.
They can be necessary.
I am grateful for them.

But they are not the foundation to helping your loved one.

The foundation is this:

Raise the bar in your own life first.

Christ said it plainly:
Cast the beam out of your own eye.

Not because others don't need your help—
but because transformation spreads from lived light, not instruction.

What did it Cost to Learn That?

I did not arrive at this answer easily.

In the spring of 2000, I was arrested on Temple Square during a mental health crisis.
Handcuffed.
Jailed.
Hospitalized.
Court-ordered into treatment.

Years later—ironically, just blocks away from Temple Square—I stood before a room of police officers teaching crisis awareness.

I told them something that still surprises people:

I am grateful.

Grateful I was arrested.
Grateful I was hospitalized.
Grateful it happened more than once.

Because there was no other way I would have accepted help.

It took repeated humbling before I was ready to be healed.

That was not a failure of God’s plan.
That was His plan.

What Many Sincere Helpers Miss

Many well-meaning people think:

“I don’t struggle like that—so I must have the solution.”

But that is backwards.

Not having an affliction does not qualify you to fix one.
It qualifies you to love, not to manage.

I have praised countless family members who took NAMI’s Family-to-Family classes—
people who said, “I just want to understand so I don’t make things worse.”

That effort speaks volumes.

And still, the deepest help does not come from expertise.

It comes from example.

When you live the teachings of Christ more fully—
in your thoughts,
your discipline,
your humility—
the tide rises.

And all ships rise with it.

Stepping Out Is Personal

When Peter stepped onto the water,
he did not do it for the other disciples.

He did it because Christ called him.

Your path of healing, growth, and peace will not look like mine.
Nor like anyone else’s.

God has crafted a perfect plan for you—
not a plan for perfectionism,
but a plan where you are perfected in Christ.

Your trials.
Your timing.
Your afflictions.

All placed precisely—
so that you are transformed,
you become capable of lifting others
without forcing, fixing, or preaching.

Preach the gospel your whole life.
And when necessary use words.
(Saint Francis of Assisi)

This Is Publish Peace. Now.

This is what I mean by Publish Peace. Now.

Not slogans.
Not silence.
Not avoidance.

Peace begins in thought.
Moves into obedience.
Shows up in action.

It starts in the heart.
Settles in the home.
Spreads through the housetops.
And becomes a harvest with no poor among you—

Not building your empire,
but God’s kingdom come—
on earth as it is in heaven.

One Step

Peter stepped out while the storm still raged.

You are being invited to do the same.

One step.
Not because the water is calm—
but because Christ's presence is in you.

And that is the start of true discipleship.

In faith,

Kent
Publish Peace. Now.

When called, Peter did not argue with the waves—
he stepped.