Ever feel like you are going round and round in circles? Re-inventing the wheel? (I know we always used to dread a new Captain joining the ship because very often we would have to go through the ‘lets try this new idea’ stage … something that we had tried and binned several times under the previous boss … but hey ho …). But it can be so frustrating when you just keep going round and round not making any progress …
We were alongside in Piraeus, the port for Athens of course, a great visit and a great run shore, with lots of ‘culture’ alongside the more traditional sailors haunts of course … (not that I would ever frequent those places) (too often). Anyway, we were alongside, so as usual at secure I went for a run … I had looked at the local tourist maps which had been dropped off in the mess, and sorted a rough route in my head. It wasn’t that hard really, as the Port is on a sort of spit of land on the outskirts of Athens itself. So, in theory, off the ship, out the dockyard, follow the main road, cut across inland, pick up the coast and follow it all the way back round to the port. What is difficult about that? I estimated it at about 6 miles … no problem, back in time for scran and ashore before the gangway closed for the Officers Cocktail party (CTP) … normal first day alongside routine for me!
So off I went. It was quite warm, but not too bad, so not taken any water, after all it was only 6 miles. After about half an hour I had not reached the coast, and beginning to think I had gone wrong. So I asked at a small café how to get back to the port via the coast road. What seemed like some fairly simple directions followed, so off I went. After about another half hour … still no coast … and …. yup, back at the same café. Ah. Not going well, this time someone else gave me directions, and off I went … honestly, 20 mins later .. same café. Much hilarity amongst the locals … while I was starting to feel A. Knackered, B. Embarrased and C. Annoyed. Try again … this time it slotted into place and I found the coast … when I eventually found the ship in the yard I had been out for well over 2 hours … and of course not used to that distance at that stage in the deployment! BUT to add to my misery the important guests were now arriving for the CTP and the gangway was closed … thankfully the 2nd in command saw me sitting alongside a container on the jetty waiting and felt sorry for me (out of character) and let me back on board …
Life can often seem like we are just going round the same thing, same daily routine, same drudgery at work, or at home, a bit like the film ‘Groundhog day’ really … even as a Christian life can seem like that. Church is the same every week, sing a few hymns, say a few prayers, listen to a boring talk that bears no relevance to anything at all and then drink lukewarm tea out of a green china mug whilst pretending you want to be there when actually you would rather be in the pub talking with your mates. But I don’t reckon life or Christianity is meant to be like that is it? In the Bible it records Jesus as saying this … ‘I came so you can have real and eternal life, more and better life than you’ve ever dreamed of’. Now that’s a pretty bold statement … but for me it’s been true … it doesn’t mean that God is going to give you loads of ‘stuff’, but that life will take on a new meaning, there will be a point to it, a new hope and purpose … you won’t spend quite so much time going round and round in circles asking for directions from the same café like some complete plonker much to the hilarity of the locals …
So if you wouldn’t call yourself a Christian and feel that you are just treading the same old path day in day out with no real purpose or motivation, never seem to be getting anywhere why not investigate the claims of Jesus for yourself? Have a chat with a Christian mate, or drop us an E mail at the CVM office. If you are a Christian and you feel that it’s just the same old thing day after day, there doesn’t seem to be any ‘joy’ in your relationship with God ie you are not experiencing ‘more and better life than you’ve ever dreamed of’ .. try spending a bit of time alone with God, praying and reading the Bible and ask him to show you where you are going wrong … why you end up back at the same café time aftertime after time … if you listen to the directions properly you will find the right route!!!
Image Credit: Bhavyesh Acharya
