Lost at Sea

I hope you had a decent Christmas in the midst of all the restrictions and challenges. As we start this year I suspect many of us are trying to work out how much planning for the future we can actually do. Also in these literal and metaphorical ‘dark days’ it may feel that the only thing we can do is plod on, one day at a time, or maybe all you are able to do is just survive one day at a time!

Over the last couple weeks while Karen and I have been off work we have spent a bit of time going for walks, sometimes with friends and latterly on our own. We often ended up on the sea front or on the beach. We tried to pick the better weather days. On Monday, the final day of our holiday, we had a walk around St Mary’s lighthouse. It was bitterly cold and raining and in reality it was rather bleak! But it did blow away the cobwebs.

When we stood and looked out at the sea, it was dark and moody. I imagined Jesus and his mates on a boat (have a look at these passages to refresh your memory: Matthew 8:23-27 or Matthew 14:22-33).

I’ve been on large boats a few times now. One of the things I remember about the experience is the sense of vastness, and at night it’s just pitch black. It’s quite something! I’m not a fan of these boats for reasons I may have talked about before and as such I am very wary of the sea. Despite this I love to watch the waves from the safety of the shore.

Maybe all we can do in these times is survive, maybe these passages will help us to do that? Maybe it’s finding ways to connect with others, even if they feel a bit wearisome, maybe you have the inner resources? Maybe you are floundering and need to cry out to be rescued?

Questions:

So if you were lost at sea what would you need to survive? (game)

How are you surviving in these times?

How can we support others when we can’t see them in person?

What did you notice about these passages?