POSITION LOCATION: My friend Captain Bill Rigby (USN RET) sends out daily emails listing, sometimes commenting on, what happened on that day throughout history.

Recently, Bill related the story of a passenger steamer: the SS Warrimoo traveling in the mid-Pacific between Vancouver and Australia.

The navigator via a star fix calculated the vessel’s longitude and latitude coordinates. When reported to the captain, it was noted they were located both on the equator and at the international date line. The date was December 31,1899.

The Warrimoo position included…

-The bow in the Southern Hemisphere, mid-summer.

-The stern in the Northern Hemisphere, mid-winter.

-The date of the aft part of the ship was December 31, 1899.

-The date of the forward part of the ship, January 1, 1900.

Thus, the ship was simultaneously in…

-Two different days.

-Two different months.

-Two different years.

-Two different seasons.

-Two different centuries.

(SHIPS AND THE SEA, John Euler, p.18)

PREACHER BRAIN This story jazzed my preachery brain into zig zag mode with connections between boats and lives.

Here are a few…

+ I recalled an old Beetle Bailey comic strip. Beetle and his GI buddy Killer Diller go into a tattoo parlor. On the wall are pictures of all sorts of battleships. They can’t decide which one, so they tell the guy to put the biggest ship possible on their chests. In the last frame, the two guys look down at their chests with a bit of dismay: rowboats.

+ While chuckling at the Beetle and Killer story, a phrase peeked out from my memory mist…

“O God, your sea is so great, and my boat is so small”.

Thanks to Google, I relearned this is a line from an old Breton fisherman’s prayer. It was on a plaque on President Kennedy’s desk, given to him by Admiral Hyman Rickover. Rickover gave the quote to all new submarine captains entering Naval service under his command.

+ Along the way, the church has been called the ship of faith. Some church ceilings resemble the upturned hull of a boat. The nautical term ‘nave’ refers to the main seating area of a church. Maybe like all our little rowboats are in a big boat together?

CHECKING OUR COORDINATES: The early days of a new year are a good time to calculate the coordinates of the ship – rowboat – of our lives.

+ Where are we in the lifespan? The longer we get to live, the emphasis is more and more on the quality of our time than the quantity. The past has blessings and regrets. The future holds hopes and fears. The present-present is THE place we actually get-to live - not kill- our time.

+ Where are we in the coordinates of our relationships? We don’t have forever to say and show our love. Now, perhaps, is the time to offer an “I’m sorry.” Or an “I was wrong.” Try some do-overs. Or do some gracious let-it-goes with someone, maybe even ourselves. Here in the middle of things, at the beginning of a new year, with whom do we need intentionally to spend more time?

+ Where are we in the bittersweet dance between the joys and griefs in our lives? Lean into the joys we have with each other. Cherish the presence in our hearts of those no longer in the world with us. There’s a connection between grief and gratitude.

+ Where are with our life work? How does what we do with competence and compassion in our job or volunteer time help people live their lives? Money is great and there are troubles aplenty when there is not enough. But enough money is not enough for a life worth living and dying for, though generously sharing what we have helps.

+ Where are we with our faith? Seeking to trust God with our living and dying does not mean being question or doubt free.

Frederick Buechner’s often quote quip: “Doubt is the ants in the pants of faith. It keeps it alive and kicking.” An intelligent and resilient faith has its share of wrestling.

STORMS AT SEA: Years back, on a study trip to the Holy Land with several clergy colleagues, we were on a small boat crossing the Sea of Galilee. Our guide was telling us how storms often come quickly on that 7 X 3-mile lake.

Warm wet air blowing from the Mediterranean on the west and cool dry air rushing down from the Golan Heights on the east collide over the Sea of Galilee.

Almost on Disney World cue, a windy storm came. The former smooth waters began to rock and roll. (I lost my lunch.) There was a scary 10-minutes as the storm came and sure enough went. When it was over, we did a bit of nervous laughing at how afraid we were.

You don’t need me to tell you how quickly our life boats can unexpectedly get storm tossed…financial, health, relationship tough stuff can blow in, not always blowing out so quickly.

Like the Warrimoo we might be in several places at once. There are times when things can be smooth sailing in parts of my life, yet anxious-stressful in others. Surely, you can fill in with your own examples here.

STRESS SURFING: Recently, I heard Dr. Elissa Epel interviewed on NPR. She and her team at the University of California, San Francisco, do research on understanding stress: its well-known destructive effects, but also its positive role in a well-lived life.

Excessive, poorly navigated stress can affect us even at a cellular, chromosomal level, can complicate our health and accelerate aging.

Yet stress is not bad in itself. It cues us to pay attention, enables us to be nimble, respond creatively to dangers and opportunities that come our way. I keep telling myself that when those seasons of anxiety blow into my life for a while.

I am wading through Dr. Epel’s THE STRESS PRESCRIPTION: 7 DAYS TO MORE JOY AND EASE. I am not a fan of neat can-do, self-help books. Don’t let the title fool you. This is solid information and guidance.

The challenge is not to find nifty ways to be stress-free. That’s impossible, ignorant of the way life is, and insulting to the rugged things we go through. Yet Epel shares understanding and practices that help us respond and not just react to the positive and negative roles of stress in life.

NEW YEAR VOYAGE: I begin the 2023 voyage thankful for what has been and hopeful for all to come. Grateful for my family and friends. Grateful for the United Methodist Church ships of faith on which I have sailed across the years, and just now, for being onboard the SS Canterbury UMC.

Also, thanks for Captain Rigby (member of the SS Asbury UMC) passing on the account of the Warrimoo, and for our quest for the better burger and BBQ.