https://camdenharbourinn.com/maine-schooner-cruises/

​Setting Sail

By Nita Gilger
​

Remembering our trips to Maine enlivens all my senses and takes me to an almost dreamlike state of being. Our visits there took us to friends, sailing, hiking, history, pure beauty, lobster and all things seafood, blueberry pancakes and maple syrup, just to name a few. One of my favorite days on a trip to Maine was in Camden, after a lovely night's stay at Whitehall. That day, we went sailing on an old schooner.

The Whitehall Inn is famous for its placement by the ocean and for all the artists, celebrities, prominent leaders, and writers who summered there. It is also famous for movies made there. Think of poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay and the 1957 movie, Peyton Place. 

An excerpt from the last verse of Millay's poem Renascence captures some of the magic of the place:

The world stands out on either side
No wider than the heart is wide;
Above the world is stretched the sky, --
No higher than the soul is high.
The heart can push the sea and land
Farther away on either hand;
The soul can split the sky in two,
And let the face of God shine through

Perhaps our soul journeys are somewhat akin to sailing on the open sea, along the vast shores of Maine. I believe our souls seek to claim the importance of ongoing growth and transformation. Our spiritual lives are intimately connected to our experiences in the world around us. We are constantly becoming. As we engage with the world and with one another, our souls are shaped and transformed, evolving over time in response to our experiences and interactions. 

Wendell Berry puts it this way: "The significance and ultimately the quality of the work we do is determined by our understanding of the story in which we are taking part."

Change is constant and, sometimes, life is as turbulent or as beautiful as the sea we sailed on in Maine. Change can be creative and/or destructive depending on what we do with it and how we interpret it. There are times it is important to honor what is lost. I can always choose to do something new that is transforming and invitational for my own best perpetual becoming. Or, I can stagnate and allow my world to become too small, disconnected, and unexplored. What story have I written about my life? What story am I writing in this very present moment? 

Perhaps what I seek at this juncture of life is balance, meaning, and quality of life. One of my favorite poets, John O'Donohue helps me to define that:

For Equilibrium

Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,
May the relief of laughter rinse through your soul.
As the wind loves to call things to dance,
May your gravity be lightened by grace.
Like the dignity of moonlight restoring the earth,
May your thoughts incline with reverence and respect.
As water takes whatever shape it is in,
So free may you be about who you become.
As silence smiles on the other side of what's said,
May your sense of irony bring perspective.
As time remains free of all that it frames,
May your mind stay clear of all it names.
May your prayer of listening deepen enough
To hear in the depths of the laughter of God. 

I will not be boarding an old, beautiful schooner today to ride the waves. However, I can choose to let my life speak, grow, and embrace the possibilities that God draws me toward with God's invitational, amazing love. Whatever may come, my sails are raised and open. I am ready to set sail.  Come aboard with me. The water is fine. But if it becomes stormy, we have each other to help manage the swells and dips until the waters calm and the way is clear. Amen.

God as Wind

Nita's essay serves as a powerful reminder that we can envision God as Wind. Not a tumultuous wind with hurricane force; but trustworthy Wind, healing and whole-making. God's Wind is powerful in a gentle way, like a nurturant love.

Nita encourages us to navigate through both the challenges and the calm moments, seeking attunement to God's wind-like guidance in every circumstance. She shows that we can embark on this journey even on dry land.

It is crucial to acknowledge, along with Nita, that we are wind-like too. Our lives are not stagnant entities fixed in place, but ever-evolving journeys, subtly changing with each new age, year, month, and day. By opening ourselves to the healing Wind, we can be gently nudged forward along our unique paths. During difficult times, we can draw strength and resilience from the unwavering presence of the divine Wind, which remains faithful to us and to the world. This fidelity is God's unconditional covenant with us. And in moments of calm, we can experience a profound serenity, because the very essence of the Wind is whispering comforting and reassuring messages to our souls. It is a Wind that says: "I am always with you."

Faith transcends mere belief in God; it involves placing trust in something ungraspable but deeply nourishing. Together, we sail aboard the schooner of faith, journeying alongside fellow travelers, all propelled by the same divine Wind that guides us on our spiritual odyssey. 

In a separate page in Open Horizons I offered twelve metaphors for thinking about God: cosmic weaver, cosmic breathing, sacred whole, cosmic womb, radiant light, universal consciousness, deep listening, nurturing parent, energy of love, beauty within and beyond, cosmic creativity. When I read Nita's essay, I wanted to add a thirteenth: God as trustworthy Wind.

But then I realized that it was a lot like God as cosmic breathing. The trustworthy Wind is the deep breathing of a cosmic weaver whom we can imagine on the analogy of a nurturing parent filled with an energy of love. The Wind is like a mother's kiss.

And I realized that one way the Wind is present in our lives is through inspiration to reflect, to imagine, to feel, to enter into dreamlike states of being, as if we are sailing on an old schooner off the coast of Maine. Nita's essay is an invitation to set sail.

- Jay McDaniel