Sail Humbly with ...

This week's Lectionary texts include Micah 6:8 "God has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"
Notice that sailing isn't mentioned? Is that because sailing is always a humbling experience? I'm sure we all have had experiences in which we have learned a lot. Anne Pye once commented that she and Peter often sailed with one hand in God's pocket (sometimes firmly clenched). Hopefully we can keep a sense of humor about our experiences - like this experience that John and Pati Letcher relayed to Hal Roth while they were telling yarns.

"We came to Lynn Canal [in SE Alaska], a huge fiord that ran north for 120 miles," said John. "There was a south wind blowing to make our passage up the bay a cinch, but I was worried about getting back south and out. So I asked a commercial fisherman.
"'No problem' said the fisherman. 'She always blows north in Lynn Canal.'
"Marvelous," replied John, who like a good sailor immediately cast off and headed north with the unusual south wind. They sailed to the most remote northerly stretches of the great bay. However, when it came time to sail south John began to look for the northerly wind. It didn't come and it took John and Pati three weeks to beat and row their way out. When they neared the entrance they saw their fisherman friend and hailed him.
"Say, where's that north wind you said always blew here?" asked John.
"The fisherman scratched his head and replied: 'North? What do you mean? She's blowing toward the north right now'."*

Bernard Moitessier meditating during the Long Way.

For me, sailing has always been a form of active prayer. I have to pay attention to the water, to the wind, to the boat. In the process I become aware of the natural world around me and of other people. Sometimes, I even become aware of the fact that I'm no longer thinking about my "shore-side" or personal problems. I've reached a stage of "just being." Of course, I'm always aware of how much I just don't know. This is true of learning, I suppose, finding that the more we know, just how much we don't know. And the entire sailing experience fills me with wonder.  And isn't wonder a close aspect of prayer?

As humility and prayer go together, too, maybe there is a reason that I'm always learning something upon the water.

May we continue to be filled with wonder and humility- and a large dose of humor - as we sail.

Blessed Be,

Joel

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* Letcher, John S. Self-Steering for Sailing Craft. International Marine Pub Co, 1974. (Forward by Hal Roth)