“You cannot cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore”
The above quotation is attributed to Christopher Columbus. This quote made some kind of sense to me during last summer when I read a delightful book entitled “Four mums in a boat” the wonderful story of four quite ordinary women who took up rowing while their children attended school on a Saturday morning. One of them saw an article about the Taliska Whiskey Atlantic Challenge and the four of them decided to apply, as you do. The story charts their journey of preparation, their adventure rowing the two and half thousand nautical miles from La Gomera in the Canary Islands, to the English harbour on Antigua, it is an amazing and inspirational story and well worth a read.
I also read the story of one of the lads who used to attend the Sunday school and youth club back in the village where I grew up. It must be nearly forty years since I last saw him, but I have followed his story in recent years on social media. He is an adventurer and has, in his time worked his way around the world. Twenty one years ago, he decided to cycle from the southern most tip of Argentina, to the north coast of Alaska, a cycle ride of 16,000 miles, as you do. Once again, a little like the four mums, he talks through his back story that led him to the point where he was sitting in Argentina, about to start out on the experience of a lifetime.
Both these stories remind me of a time when I was agonizing about becoming a minister. I was happy in my job, earning decent money, the children were growing up and to all intents and purposes I had it all, why would I want to uproot my family and move to another part of the country, leaving my entire support network behind me? It didn’t make sense, but was something I simply had to do. Somebody said to me years ago, that when you feel compelled to step out into the unknown, the first thing to do is start pushing doors and if they open, then you can be certain, that is the way you should be heading. I don’t know whether the person who shared this wisdom was Christian or not, but I have shared that same wisdom in Church many times since.
We are at a critical time in life at the moment, I am writing this on the day that all the pandemic restrictions are being lifted and the freedoms denied to us for so long are being restored. This is a stressful time for many and there is a feeling of stepping out into the unknown. The critcal moment for the four women was as they rowed out of the harbour at La Gomera for their sixty seven days of rowing, thus setting a record as the oldest women to row an ocean. The critical moment for Trevor was setting out from Argentina at the beginning of his long cycle ride. Sure, there were challenges along the way, but the ultimate act of courage is setting out.
Prayer:
Lord, give me the courage I need to step out in faith, not to take unnecessary risks, but to prepare carefully, but then to follow that through with action. If I am scared, then give me courage to start pushing doors and see what happens. Amen