Doldrums

Someone I know had an opportunity to participate in a yacht race sailing around the world. It took most of a year to complete. I went to Boston to see the sailboat’s finish one leg of the race and then again to see them start the next leg a few weeks later. There was plenty of excitement as they came into the dock in Boston with everyone on deck cheering. There was also plenty of excitement when they began the next leg, with a fire boat salute, lots of small boats, and people lining Boston harbor on their way back out to the ocean. Even in the midst of the race there was plenty of excitement, especially in rough seas. One of the 12 identical 70 foot sailboats capsized in a storm. People suddenly found themselves underneath the boat in the middle of the Atlantic. My friend wrote an eMail from the Southern Ocean about how his faith sustained him when their sailboat was being “launched” off of 70 foot waves! Pretty exciting!

But there were also the “doldrums”. As you approach the equator, there are areas of the ocean where the sea can be like a lake. Wind is non-existent. You can’t make up any time in a sailboat race when there is no wind. Those times can be, BORING.

How do you get through the doldrums? Some people pretend they don’t exist. That might work if the doldrums don’t last very long. Especially if you’ve just come out of an exciting storm and you know that at the end of the doldrums is a glorious celebration. Maybe your mind will never get to “doldrum reality” because you never finish reflecting before you have to start planning again. For me, that’s exactly how life is in-between our youth trips to the Creation Festival and our mission trip to Appalachia Service Project. But prolonged doldrums can be downright depressing.

My Golden Retriever, Raleigh, loves routine. He makes his own excitement even in the doldrums. When I show up at his dinner time with a boring bowl of the same EXACT thing he has had for dinner every day for the last 4 years, he LEAPs in the air with excitement!

Then there is Helen, our cat. Yes, her full name would be, Helen Keller. Helen is our little Jesus. She lives the abundant life. She is “legally blind”. She gets seizures occasionally. When she leaps up on our bed she has to think it over for about 45 seconds and she comes down like an airplane having a rough landing. Not your typical “cool cat”. She runs into walls and doors. She is yelled and swiped at by our other cats, and Raleigh chases her.

But, like Jesus, Helen doesn’t seem to care. All of this can happen and the next minute you’ll find Helen chasing her tail, hopping around the living room, nuzzling up to your leg, or rolling over for you to scratch her belly. Then she’ll curl up content on a pillow and rest. Helen loves life. No matter what life delivers, and I’m pretty sure for a blind cat, life could be the doldrums, Helen loves life.

I think this is how Jesus would live through the doldrums. I know Jesus loved to spend quiet time “curled up with God”. The doldrums can be a blessing in that our mind can be quieted so we can hear God’s still, small, voice. I think Jesus also found humor in everyday life, even in the miracles he did sometimes. They think there isn’t enough food to go around? Ha! Check out what can happen when God gets a hold of 5 loaves and 2 fish! Is the lake too calm for you? If you keep your eyes on Jesus, you can walk on water, that’s pretty exciting!

Jesus doesn’t get depressed in the doldrums. Jesus uses the doldrums as opportunities to learn self-control of our attitude to choose to bring both excitement and contentment into everyday life. Just as there is a blessing for us in every person we meet, there is also a blessing for us in every moment we meet. Especially in the doldrums.

Have a blessed summer, Happy Hiking, and God Bless,

- allen