Skip to footer

What tall ships prompted me to think about

A Christian Science perspective: The grace of tall ships holds lessons for navigating life’s storms.

  • By Susan Kerr

Recently more than 50 ships from about a dozen countries paraded majestically into Boston Harbor. Most were part of the Rendez-Vous 2017 Tall Ships Regatta, an international sailing event, visiting ports on both sides of the Atlantic. As I watched some of the ships go into the harbor close to where I live, I realized that one of the ships I was viewing through my binoculars was probably the Esmeralda from Chile. According to event information, it was built in 1953. More research revealed that another participating ship was built in the late 1800s. Incredible.

But there’s more to these ships and such occasions than just the outer beauty and grace that we see. Beneath the surface and history of these objects and events are the qualities represented: precision, intelligence, harmony, strength. The ships’ voyages also point to teamwork, perseverance, faith, and peaceful collaboration.

I see these as qualities that derive from God. They make me think of the spiritual universe, which includes each one of us as God’s creation or image.

Reflecting on these ideas as I watched some of the ships, I thought of how many Bible references to sailing, seas, waves, and wind there are. For instance, Christ Jesus is recorded as having stilled storms and as having walked on the water. And this verse in Psalms, referring to God, promises: “You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, You still them” (89:9, New King James Version).

I’ve found that opening my thought to inspiration from God helps me navigate more readily the stormy waters that can come up in life, and has brought “calm waters” – solutions and healing – many times. For instance, at one point I needed to make an important decision as to what course to take in a personal matter. I had been praying about it for a while, and on the morning of the day I was going to take a conclusive next step, I awoke with a very strong sense not to go in the direction I’d been planning to. Later that morning, I received an out-of-the-blue call that ultimately led to a course that was clearly right for me. Day after day, turning to God in prayer – yearning to understand more of His universe – I find guidance and healing.

It takes persistence sometimes, but striving to better understand the limitless goodness of God and His creation helps us see that the discords we face are ultimately mistaken beliefs of life as limited and mortal, which is a misperception of our spiritual reality as God’s children. Speaking of Christian Science, the system of healing she discovered, Monitor founder Mary Baker Eddy wrote: “Divine Science demands mighty wrestlings with mortal beliefs, as we sail into the eternal haven over the unfathomable sea of possibilities” (“Retrospection and Introspection,” pp. 56-57). Gaining this more spiritual sense of ourselves and the universe cuts through the fog of cynical, discouraged, frustrated, or fearful thinking. It enables us to experience more of genuine, spiritual life and sail on more skillfully.

Thank you, tall ships, for all that you represent and for what you prompted me to ponder.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Enjoying this content?
Explore the power of gratitude with the Thanksgiving Bible Lesson – free online through December 31, 2024. Available in English, French, German, Spanish, and (new this year) Portuguese.
Read the Thanksgiving Lesson
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to What tall ships prompted me to think about
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/A-Christian-Science-Perspective/2017/0707/What-tall-ships-prompted-me-to-think-about
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe