“A ship is safer in the harbor, but that’s not what a ship was made for.”-Dad
The truth of those words sunk into my heart… and I believe they’ve helped to direct the course of my life.
Imagine a beautiful ship… built with the best wood, and decorated with great sails and flags honoring the ships country of origin. Master craftsman spend years putting her together with great care. She is the pride of the port. She’s the fastest, and strongest ship ever built. Then they give her a glorious name… the S.S. Courage. They give her a great christening and bust an expensive bottle of wine on her haul… everybody cheers… and then they go home. The S.S. Courage remains in the port. They decided they want to save her for a really important battle. She never leaves the port… Then one day the country goes to war…and a Naval Officer asks if the S.S. Courage can be launched. He even volunteers to captain the ship. The Naval General looks at him with a stern look, and says, “Son, we can win this war without the Courage… lets save her for a bigger war.” They do win the war… and years later the Courage still rests in her safe harbor. She no longer looks so beautiful as the day she was built… she’s been neglected for so long. She has moss growing on her haul… and her anchor chain is badly rusted from never leaving the water… Then another country again wages war… and finally the Naval General says, “It’s time to launch the S.S. Courage.” They go to her in their most desperate hour… the enemy’s fastest ship is closing in on their harbor. If they reach the harbor, their Capital will surely be lost. They send a crew aboard the Courage, and they begin to raise the anchor… only to find the links of the chain are rusted to one another. Finally after much struggle they get the anchor lifted. The captain tells the first mate, and he shouts the order, “HOIST the SAILS!!!” The crew hurriedly hoists the sales… and when raised it is obvious to everyone there is a problem. There are holes all through the canvas!!! Apparently the moths got to the sales in all the time the S.S. Courage sat in port. The ropes are dry-rotted and weak. The wind begins to blow and immediately one of the
...