Читать книгу Hope’s Daughters - R. Wayne Willis - Страница 97

Once upon a time there was an old sea captain who for decades sailed his vessel flawlessly, earning the devotion and admiration of all his crew. The venerable captain had one peculiarity. Every day before sailing he went to his cabin for a few moments alone. The crew thought perhaps he was saying prayers for himself and his men. Whatever he was doing, they assumed it was the key to his sailing prowess.

One day a crew member followed him on his morning routine and watched through the keyhole. He saw the captain go to a locked box, unlock it, take out a scrap of paper, read it, return it to the box, and lock it in. After that ritual he left the cabin with a smile on his face and confidently sailed another day.

When the old captain died, the crew could not wait to get to that locked box and see what was on the paper. After they reverently buried him at sea, they reverently tiptoed down to his cabin, unlocked the door, unlocked the box, opened it, and unfolded the creased, yellowed paper, which read: “The right side is the starboard side.”

We need regularly to peek outside our rut and ask the really big one: “What is this thing called life all about? Where is it going? Am I being true to myself? Am I on course, or has my vessel run aground?”

“Now and then we all need to take our mind out and dance on it,” Mark Twain wrote, “because it’s getting all caked up.”

For those of the Judeo-Christian tradition, the right side—whether the Republicans, the Democrats, or the Independents are in—is incontrovertible. Micah’s sentence in scripture sums up what the right side is: “See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God.”80