The Journey

I guess you've all been wondering about my fascination with sail ships. Well, besides the fact that I think they're just beautiful there is a Spiritual reflection that I have that I would like to share.

Ask yourself what you would be thinking when you board a sail ship to go on a journey. You're all excited about the trip, what kind of goodies there are to eat, how many friends you're going to meet along the way and most important, what is your destination going to be like. You go aboard and find all sorts of people doing all kinds of jobs to get the ship underway. Some of the jobs you find most interesting, saying to yourself, 'I could do that' and then there are the jobs that you say is something that you could never do.

Now, I like to think of life as going aboard a sail ship and preparing for a journey. Everyone tells you what your final destination (Heaven) is going to be like but you really don't know for sure and you're kind of apprehensive about it, not really sure you want to start this journey into, what you believe, is the unknown.
Because someone loved you so much when you were born you were Baptized into Jesus Christ thereby giving you the ticket to board the ship. You find everyone that you love aboard, both alive and dead, to help you understand your journey. All the passengers and crew are your community who have the same apprehensions that you do but because they've been sailing longer then you, there is a certain amount of joy in their lives because they know, through Faith, that the destination is worth the many perils and heartaches that they as a community are going to have along the way. Everyone aboard ship (the community) has a job (vocation) with is designed by God just for him or her. You can always recognize these people, they're the ones that are always full of joy. These people set the example for you. There are some of them that when you see them at work, you stand in awe wondering how and why they do the things they do. The ship finally gets underway after all the provisions (Eucharist, Bible) are safely stowed away. No sail ship can get very far without the wind. The wind is the Spirit of God that blows you and your community toward your destination. As you sail along there is calm with a gentle breeze and sometimes there will be gale force winds (sin) taking you off course and which will make you feel as though you're not worthy to continue. Then, just when you're ready to give up hope that you will ever get back on course...the gentle breeze begins again steering you and your community in the right direction.

Then, and this is the real kicker...you realize that there are many ships traveling in the same direction...to the same destination...to our Lord, which is one and all!