Awaiting The Ships

Of sea captains young or old, and the mates--and of all intrepid sailors...

"Leaves of Grass, Songs for All Seas, All Ships" Whitman

When we went to Germany 3 years ago to visit the land of my Great Grandfather, we stood at the very edge of the North Sea where they had lived. It was September; there was a chill in the air and the gulls swooped around us like kites, looking for bits of food. I scanned the horizon and strained my eyes to penetrate as far as they could. I wasn't only looking at the expanse that lay around me. I was hungry to peer into a place where my natural eyes could no longer wander. I wanted to see my youthful Grandfather as he would have stood at this same shoreline while he considered leaving the farm that laid so close to the water.

He would have thought about leaving his family and all he knew to travel to a place he had never even seen. He would make a new home in the United States midwest where he would never see this much water at one time again! And he was leaving a home to which he knew he would never return.

His courage amazed me. In fact, all my paternal Great Grandparents left Germany within a few years of each other to immigrate to the United States where they met and married and raised families. As I stood gazing out and thinking about all this, I prayed and asked the Lord about this. And the Lord spoke to my heart things which astounded my understanding. A Mighty Hand was upon these intrepid wanderers, and their wanderings were not accidental.

I love Tolkein's poem in his Fellowship of the Rings story in which he writes "...not all those who wander are lost". Tolkein's poem is rich in its truth and is an apt description about those who came to settle this nation with mettle and courage.

I pray that our nation will not lose sight of the hope and vision of men and women like my Great Grandparents who came from a foreign land to embrace this territory and proudly make it their home. They gave their best to make this a safe place to raise the seeds they sowed here: their children. They prized their liberty, and I pray that we will never take their sacrifices for granted.



(Graphic based on tutorial by Elly)