PEACE
Lord of all waters
Jonah 2:5-7
The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; the deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever; yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God. "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.” NKJV
My present window looks along the Kirkcaldy esplanade with a wide view of the open mouth of the ever ship swallowing Firth of Forth. In the distance, Arthurs seat waits for the King, whilst the white dry Ski slopes of Midlothian, the largest in Europe, all lying in the shadow of the Pentland hills, from this side of the water, especially in the fading light of this late summer evening, looks like the gooey running of dropped guano from an awkward Guillemot with diarrhea, who didn’t quite make it to the bathroom of the sea on time.
The late balmy evening drew me out and as I walked home back along the esplanade a police van seemed to be waiting for me on the promenade, its double eyed headlights all a blaring. As I walked past it, one of the officers nonchalantly got out of the van and then, slowly followed by the door slamming other, both descended down the sea wall steps toward the tide out waters. I looked and saw a woman already walking, wading quadriceps high into the darkness of the cold, cold waters. The police started to run.
Leaning over the sea wall, I expected to see a semi-naked bay watch foot pounding of the sand, as one of the officers ripped off his stab vest, threw his walkie-talkie and all the other batman utility belted accoutrements of his profession onto the floor and dived into the black waves toward the women who had obviously been up to her neck in it, for a long time before tonight. But no. As she now started swimming away from them into the foot high water surface fog, all they did was stay inches from the toe touching waters and shout her name. I prayed. I wanted to plunge head long down the beach myself and try and reach her, and shout ‘You coward Wallies’ to the policemen as I sped past them and attempted to pull her back to the shore but I thought better of it as I suspected they might have rugby tackled me to the ground before I made it to the waves. Maybe one lunatic a night was enough for them to cope with?
Another police car arrived, its blue flashing lights signaling the human catastrophe unfolding in the blackness below. Minutes went by. Five. Ten. The shouting on the sea shore continued and I could no longer see the bobbing head of the weeping woman in the water. Fifteen minutes, and another police car and then, like a shining water knight, the Kinghorn lifeboat came speeding into view, its firing flares lighting up the sky and illuminating the waters below. The searchlight eventually found the body. I could hear the radio chatter. Calm; matter of fact; tired. Apparently, she was conscious. Cold but breathing.
Soon the lifeboat brought her ashore, with now eighth men carrying her on a stretcher up the beach toward the waiting ambulance. The flares had drawn a watching crowd who were by now all peering into the deepening darkness to see what they could see, whilst high in the distant skies, planes from Edinburgh airport winged their way to the moonlit clouds and below them, the largest of Ocean liners slid slowly across the horizon, its steaming lights lost in the array of another multitude of party deck illumination, as thousands of older people prepared to put on another 7lbs of personal cargo around their already button bursting waists. Meanwhile, the pubs at my back poured more drinks for the already drunk and the curry houses heaved with poppodom curried madness. Tonight, a relieved family would be informed of a depressed daughter plucked from the waves, whilst a Chinese woman would pluck the eyes out of her nephew before throwing herself down a well as Syria was bathing its children in flaming napalm once more and closing down the nervous systems of other mothers with unseen, unsmelt malevolence whilst America prepared to throw its tomahawks at the wall. And the world creaked out another turn on its well worn out and increasingly wobbly axis.
Even so, the King reigns over the seas! The seas lift themselves up and roar. The seas rage and consume, but the Lord of the seas holds them in check. Even the moon, God’s luminescent hound handler, holds daily the ever straining dog tides on the tight leash of pulling gravity; regularly letting them out and pulling them back in again, just as the Sovereign Lord decrees. Yes, the King reigns over the seas! Over all seas political, over all seas social, over all seas psychological, over all seas financial, over all seas cultural, over all the seas of terror, dark and black, over all seas full of skulking monsters all scurrying about the depths with tube filled death. Over all seas everywhere, at all times, in the heights above and the mountains below, the King of ages rules over all.
Tonight then, lay you down in peace and sleep for God, your Sovereign Lord reigns and rules and works out His glorious plan. Your prayers are heard, and according to His sovereign goodness, His servants are already on with wing to do their Masters bidding for you. The lifeboat from the Kings strength is on its way. The flares of God all searching light are seeking the lost in the darkness of the waters, the beam of His redemption spotlighting the heart, and from the edges of His ways, He still calls out His sheep by name.
The King reigns over the seas.
Listen:- By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, And of the far-off seas; Who established the mountains by His strength, Being clothed with power; You who still the noise of the seas, The noise of their waves, And the tumult of the peoples. Psalms 65:5-7 NKJV
Pray: - the noise of the seas, The noise of their waves, And the tumult of the peoples. Psalms 65:5-7 NKJV Pray: Blessed are You O Lord our God, King over all creation, who daily does us good despite all our continuing madness. Go out O Lord on the waters, go out on my waters. Find me, rescue me, save me, deliver me and bring me home at last to the safe shores of Your goodness, even into the great hall of Your fire hearted warmth of Your burning love for me. Amen and amen.
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