You are all alone in a vast sea, you're lost, your boat is about to sink, you close your eyes and see a beautiful serene island in a near distance. As you progress closer you see the one most important person you have longed for in life throughout. A little push, a wind or a corrected sail could get you there. Will you give it a try? You open your eyes, pray to God someday He will land you in that island of life with your favorite person and give your last attempt before you die. That is what is called sheer confidence in life. Life is like a sailing ship, you control the sail, but it's God who is going to control the wind and take you to the place where you are meant to be.
When we “trim” and “tack”, do we progress on the water—and in life. We cannot stop where the wind blows, but we can adjust the sails—that is, our words and actions that catch the wind.
“Catching the wind” also implies catching the Spirit who empowers and directs us. Letting go and letting God take control is hard to do. But if left to our own destructive devices, we can shipwreck things. “Shipwrecks” (plans that go awry) are newsworthy and regrettable; By contrast, smooth sailing and calm seas pass by without notice or comment. Such good fortune is welcome—but not normative, not for long. In sailing, as in life, we get somewhere only by the active force of wind and waves.
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Sadly, some are not willing or able when that moment comes—like Jonah, the prophet. Called to reach the Ninevites (the dreaded menace of ancient Israel), he boards a ship going the opposite direction, to Tarshish (Spain) instead of Nineveh (Syria). As the story goes, God whips up a storm to sink the ship and relents only when the shipmates discover Jonah hiding below deck; he is the unwarranted excess baggage that must be tossed overboard to save the ship. Likewise, God will use storms to re-route you. Being “all shipshape with no place to go”—that’s another problem. If too much baggage weighs you down, then you are beached and change is not possible. Whatever weighs heavy on your mind or drags in the water—e.g., nagging memories that shame and condemn—don’t let them rock your boat or impede your progress. Even if your boat is otherwise seaworthy, something about your past may have to be jettisoned.
Trying to feel lighter, just contemplating the application of this life-as-sailing metaphor. This 2020, we all do have, faith-full adventures at sea. Hope on board. Anchors away.
