The multiplication of seed through sowing and harvest follows the laws of nature. Seed sown on good soil produces a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times. Natural too, is the multiplication of fish. Every season they spawn in the seas and in the rivers. C.S.

In each situation Tom doesn't dwell on what has attracted him. The shirtless man is soon off the screen and forgotten. Tom gets caught up in the ballgame and his focus shifts away from the players' physiques. With the interaction of the two men, he thinks about it for a minute, tells himself this isn't good, and calls on Jesus as he has trained himself to do over the years. Intentionally he shifts his mind to other things and this too is soon forgotten.

That this is what the first generation of Christians understood is confirmed by St. Paul's understanding of his own commission: "For by the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 3:10,11)

This is the account of the physical miracle of the stilling of the storm. It is impossible to believe that a man could command the wind and the waves. In a celebrated incident in history, King Canute, eleventh century king of Denmark, Norway and England, despite his power and the flattery of his courtiers, demonstrated that he could not command the tide to stop rising. Yet Jesus had this calming effect on the wind and the waves.