Has the Lord Abandoned us after Telling us to Set Sail?
In all his dealings with us the Lord teaches us how to live on this earth.
There is not a person in this world who is not a voyager, even if not all are anxious to return to the homeland.
In the course of this voyage the waves and the storms make us seasick. But at least we are in the ship. Outside the ship death would be inevitable. When one is swimming among the breakers, however energetic one’s arms are, sooner or later one is defeated by the size of the ocean and allows oneself to drown. To complete the crossing, therefore, it is essential to remain in the ship, to be supported by its planks.
The plank that supports our weakness is the cross of Our Lord. He keeps us safe from the world that threatens to drown us. We suffer because we are tossed about by the waves, but the Lord himself supports us.
The Gospel tells us that Jesus left the crowd and went up a mountain to pray. That high mountain is a symbol of heaven. The head of this body which is the Church takes his place upon high in order that all his members may follow him. With that intention he prays – he intercedes on our behalf.
Insofar as the ship is carrying his disciples, it may be called the Church. The storm of temptations assail it, the contrary winds disturb it: that is, the devil opposes the Church and tries to stop it reaching its haven.
But we have a powerful intercessor. The Lord who has told us to set sail and to voyage towards our homeland surely will not allow his Church not to reach its haven.
Augustine, Sermons 75, 2-4 (PL38, 475 6)
Life’s Journey
We read in the Book of Psalms: ‘Blessed is the one who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor follows in the way of sinners.’
Life has been called a ‘way’ because everything that has been created is on the way to its end.
When people are on a sea voyage, they can sleep while they are being transported without any effort of their own to their port of call. The ship brings them closer to their goal without their even knowing it. So we can be transported nearer to the end of our life without our noticing it, as time flows by unceasingly. Time passes while you are asleep. While you are awake time passes although you may not notice.
All of us have a race to run towards our appointed end. So we are all ‘on the way’.
This is how you should think of the ‘way’. You are a traveler in this life. Everything goes past you and is left behind. You notice a flower on the way, or some grass, or a stream, or something worth looking at. You enjoy it for a moment, then pass on. Maybe you come on stones or rocks or crags or cliffs or fences, or perhaps you meet wild beasts or reptiles or thorn bushes or some other obstacles. You suffer briefly then escape. That is what life is like.
Pleasures do not last but pain is not permanent either.
The ‘way’ does not belong to you nor is the present under your control. But as step succeeds step, enjoy each moment as it comes and then continue on your ‘way’.
Basil the Great, Commentary on Psalm I, 4 (PG29, 220)
~Thomas Spidlik, Drinking from the Hidden Fountain: A Patristic Breviary, Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World
