Perfectly Calm

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Most nights during dinner or sometime near dinner time, our young Irish cruise ship captain spoke to us passengers over the loudspeaker. In his friendly manner, he told us about weather forecasts, problems the ship had encountered, and details about cruising on the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and later the St. Lawrence and Saguenay Rivers.

Sometimes during his daily briefs, our captain mentioned that a ship pilot was either coming or going. The photo below shows one of those pilot’s boat pulling away from our ship.

We all know what an airplane pilot does. Though I had heard of ship pilots, I had only a vague idea about pilots helping boats get to their destinations. Here’s what we learned from our captain. Ocean-going ship captains “pilot” vessels while they are at sea. However, when they near port or leave one, a local pilot comes out to the large ship in a smaller vessel, leaves his vessel, boards the large ship, and takes over for the captain. This happens because the local pilot knows the waters near the port better than the ship captain does.

While hearing pilot talk onboard, I remembered a hymn we have sung in church many times: “Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me.” Presbyterian minister Edward Hopper wrote the hymn, which was published in The Sailor’s Magazine in 1871. Hopper learned about the life of a sailor and the importance of a pilot while ministering to sailors at the Church of the Land and Sea in New York City.

Jesus, Savior, pilot me
Over life’s tempestuous sea;
Unknown waves before me roll,
Hiding rock and treacherous shoal.
Chart and compass come from Thee;
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.

As a mother stills her child,
Thou canst hush the ocean wild;
Boisterous waves obey Thy will,
When Thou sayest to them, “Be still!”
Wondrous Sovereign of the sea,
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.

When at last I near the shore,
And the fearful breakers roar
’Twixt me and the peaceful rest,
Then, while leaning on Thy breast,
May I hear Thee say to me,
“Fear not, I will pilot thee.”

Not even our captain knew the “unknown waves” and the “hiding rock and treacherous shoal” in and near port, but the pilot did.

We don’t know the “unknown waves” and the “hiding rock and treacherous shoal” of life, but our Pilot does. He can even make everything perfectly calm.

 And there arose a fierce gale of wind,
and the waves were breaking over the boat
so much that the boat was already filling up.
Jesus Himself was in the stern,
asleep on the cushion;
and they woke Him and said to Him,
“Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
And He got up and rebuked the wind
and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.”
And the wind died down
and it became perfectly calm.
Mark 4:37-39 

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