The Sea in Aran Island Sound

Sea Sunday is always an opportunity to remember those, who for one reason or another, decide that life on the ocean wave is not as jolly as the military marching bands would have us believe. For many it is a dangerous necessity to put food on the table whilst enduring months and years of hardship and separation from families and loved ones

Many of these merchant seamen would indeed love to get out of the boat, if not permanently at least whenever they call into port. However, with the mechanisation of the docks and the swift turnabout demanded to meet maximum profit margins, this is all too often not possible – despite the best efforts of organisations such as the Mission to Seafarers

Despite the working conditions there is very little alternative employment – getting permanently out of the boat is therefore rarely an option for thousands of seafarers. Indeed for anybody contemplating life-changing decisions they often, quite rightly, fear what will happen if they choose to do so – the justifiable financial and emotional implications often outweigh any perceived benefits

This got me thinking about the moments when you suddenly realise and have the courage to do something which could potentially change your life.

All of us have a comfort zone in which we very happily operate. It’s that place where things are familiar, where we don’t have to do too much thinking, where you know exactly what is likely to happen day to day. However, occasionally there are points on our life maps when we have to make a decision – are we going to stay in the boat or do we attempt a bit of water walking

The fact is, as John Ortberg so cleverly points out in his book of the same title, “If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat” For each of us there are moments like these. What makes them significant is the effect they have on our lives if we have faith that God is working in us, nudging us, supporting us

For me there were several times spread over many years when I cautiously dangled my legs over the side of the boat as if to test the water. Then there were the scary moments when I took a few hesitant steps onto the deeps – the moment when I decided to pop into my local church on my own one Sunday morning, aged 35 with no previous church experience; the moment I dared to speak openly about my faith in front of work colleagues; the moment I tentatively wondered out loud to my parish priest that I thought I might be being called to some form of church ministry…

He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’     Matthew 14:29-31

Like Peter, my initial timid attempts did not automatically result in remaining on top of the waves. It took a lot of sinking and bobbing until I understood that it was having faith to attempt the act itself that would keep me upright on the water, not doubting my ability to actually do it.

So, if you find yourself looking out of the boat on which you are travelling through life, wondering if you are being called to join Jesus on the water, but unsure if you have the courage to step over the side – take a deep breath, look straight ahead and put your faith that God will be there in the rescue boat

Sea Sunday was celebrated on Sunday 13th July 2013. If you want to find out more about the work of Mission to Seafarers visit their website http://www.missiontoseafarers.org/