Sea Fever

I'm coming down with a fever...sea fever. I wear a silver chain and on that chain is a silver ship--full sail. It's not a lucky charm; it symbolizes my life. I was made for something greater than the harbor of my comfort zones. I was made to launch out into deep waters and I feel the tug of the sea. My ropes are taunt with the strain of wanting to sail to unknown lands and settling for what's safe.

_____________

LAUNCH OUT!

A ship is built on land but is made for the sea.
The land is safe, solid - no fears of uncertainties.
The sea is not tamable - there's no guarantees.

All my life I have been built on stable ground
and now Your Spirit calls me into deep waters.
Part of me yearns for it and dreads it at the same time.

Is there anything so ridiculous as a ship that stays on land?
Lord, shame me until I launch out and face the sea I was created for!

______________

A better poet, John Masefield, put it this way...

SEA FEVER

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.