Don't rock the boat!

I have heard these words so often just lately, "Don't rock the boat", " We mustn't rock the boat", and similar, and so I've been thinking quite a bit about rocking boats – or should I say, boats which rock?!

Boats tend to rock when seas are rough. Boats also rock as in my memory as a young teenager, out for a day trip with friends when we took a rowing boat on the river at Ilkley. Of the four people in the boat, three decided to jump out all at once leaving me clinging on the river bank for dear life as the boat drifted further into the river with my feet were still in it! In this case, the river was calm, but the people in the boat moved!

So what is it that makes the boat rock? Sometimes it's outside circumstances like stormy weather and rough seas. Sometimes we ourselves are the cause. Either way, a rocking boat makes us fear what might become of us. We lose our "sea legs", we feel sea-sick, we panic, we wave and shout out for someone to save us.

The boat is an early Christian symbol for the church. It reminds us that the church has often experienced the rough seas of persecution, change, and temptation and yet has not only survived, but also been strengthened.

Perhaps some of you already are hearing the calming words of Jesus stilling the storm, and bringing peace not only to the elements of wind and rain, but to the scared and panicky disciples. Often we hear and feel the effect of those words for ourselves when we are in that rocking boat. Everything eventually settles down again – though not quite to what it was before; some change has been made – maybe even the strengthening of faith.

Wikipedia states that 'small dinghies frequently capsize in the normal course of use and can usually be recovered by the crew. Some types of dinghy are occasionally deliberately capsized, as righting the vessel again can be the fastest means of draining water from the boat'. Sometimes deliberately causing some boats not only to rock, but actually capsize, can be of ultimate benefit and the means of saving the vessel and the crew. What could that mean for our churches?

These are unsettling times which we find disorientating. Whenever there is growth and development (more positive words than 'change'?) there will be growing pains, but they do eventually pass. As we mature, different kinds of pains assail us! That we experience these pains shows that we are alive, feel and care. That we voice our pains shows that we are honest, real and open.

Our concern must always be to see what God is doing now. We must learn from out distant and recent past but we must never close our eyes to what God might be saying to us now. Thank goodness we are all in the boat together, all wanting the best for each other, all wanting to make a safe passage through stormy seas.

Bon Voyage!

Revd Enid Knowles