Nov. 12, 2021
Or is it? This is our 6th day of sailing out on the open ocean of the Atlantic. Each day all we can see from the ship to the horizon in every direction is water. It feels that we are a long way from anywhere, and yet each day we can see on our Google map that we are making progress heading across the Atlantic Ocean from our departure point of Lisboa (Lisbon, Portugal) towards the shore of the Americas. So the map says we’re progressing, and the ship’s clocks keeping moving back an hour as we pass through different time zones. And yet here on board, we just are. A moment in time, a spot on the immense ocean, a space between yesterday and tomorrow, the great “Be Here Now.”
The ship is moving forward. We can see that in the wake behind us, in the water passing by all around us, in the clouds passing above us. And it is all changing every moment, and it is all beautiful and awe-inspiring and peaceful, even with the voices and music and constant activity around us on the ship. It is what you make it, what you focus on.
We notice how quickly the ocean changes, calm for awhile, and then the white caps and swells pick up again. We see weather systems passing by on the far horizon or enveloping us in wind and rain until we move through it. (Or until it passes over us. Which is it?) Like the sky, the ocean is constantly moving and changing too. It’s all beautiful, and we’re fully engulfed by the Beauty before us, the Beauty behind us, Beauty above us, the Beauty below us, Beauty all around us. (We can only imagine the universe of life below the surface, but “Beauty below us” has a new meaning out here.)
What’s not as obvious is our path forward. We stand at the bridge and there is no obvious path forward. We are heading west, so even the morning sun does not streak across the water in the morning showing us the way forward. It lights our path of where we’ve been and gives us the promise of another day to keep going.
The path ahead is open ocean, full of potential and opportunity in every direction. And in every direction, it all looks the same, with no hint from the universe which way to go. So, like life, it’s important to know where you want to go, to have a plan, set a course, a dream, a prayer. And though the course may need to be adjusted due to the storms of life knocking you around, if you have set your course and know where you’re going, you will get there.
We saw the first seabird a little while ago. He knows where he’s going, and we’re following him. How about you? Where are you going, and what voice are you following? May there always be Beauty all around you!
Brenda and Tom
