Sailing Away

There must be a lot of people looking to "sail away".  It shows up in several song lyrics.  Today, Styx version showed up on my radio.  Sailing away was a nice thought.  Escaping a sea of troubles appealed to Hamlet, so why not me?  Nah, Hamlet was a wimp, escape, a cop-out.  Better to batten down the hatches and carry on "tossed about like a ship on the ocean."  I can relate to that.

The idea of sailing away is tempting.  I haven't written much this week.  I've been busy and tired.  I've also felt a bit overwhelmed by the need to write something meaningful, if not profound.  I'm not profound or meaningful every day or at least not that I'm aware.  So today, I just went with the music and listened to the song.  It's one my husband is quite fond of.  I wondered if it was the lyrics or the music.  After listening, I'd guess it's the music.  It is rather complex.  It starts out with a very classic or traditional sound and over the song it changes, to techno and rock until it fades into silence.  Someone once said that it was the silence between the notes that makes the music.  So might it be with the silence in between my words.

Maybe my profundity lies in my silence.  Actually, this week has been a busy one outside and between my ears.  I've taken mental arms against various injustices and resolved the conflict within by hammering out a peace treaty.  I've thought about what really matters to me and what things I can let go.

This idea of "sailing away" and of "letting go" are wise things to ponder.  I tend to cling to things.  During the week, I read that the word "sin" comes from a root word that means "wrong life".  This is a concept I can live with.  Sin always seemed less of an affront to God and more of an act of short-sighted,self-destruction.  Clinging to things, to my way, to possessions, or to a version of the truth,  is self-destructive.  It blinds me to what might be, what I might be.  It blocks the achievement of my true potential, a potential that is not measured by bank accounts or worldly accomplishments.  To sin is to be less than one is.

This was a truth that I knew but had no words for when I was very young.  Years of education and outside influences had usurped this truth's place in my heart.  Over the years, as I've piloted a variety of boats over the seas of life.  I've had moments when the clouds parted and this truth sat beside me and joined me on my journey.

This last week, I sat down with this old and welcome truth and enjoyed its company in silence.  To explain it or write about it would not do it justice.  It's a truth that comes with a paradox.  While the problems of life toss trouble against my ship, I can still know peace.  I can still feel that peace.  I can sometimes share that peace with others.  Trouble is transitory.  It is possible to rest upon bedrock and still be on the sea.