This week, I came across a prayer of Sir Francis Drake. It comes from 1577.
Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.
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One Comment
I have just read “Disturbed” a prayer of Sir Francis Drake, 1577 on Sam’s blog. In the mid 1960’s I was stationed on an anti-sub aircraft carrier returning from a Mediterranean Cruise. It was early December and a fierce hurricane was plotted in the North Atlantic. Our Captain had two choices, divert toward Bermuda and ride out the storm, or dead head to New York harbor directly into the hurricane. Being the cowboy that this Naval Aviator was alleged to have been, the Captain headed directly into the fierce storm. We had to go to “General Quarters” for 2 days. That means “Man your Battle Stations” The large carrier pitched and yawed. White water broke above the flight deck, some 90 feet above the
water’s surface. The steel mast of the ship, many feet thick, snapped in two pieces. Several aircraft, tied down on the flight deck, went over the side. The flexible expansion joints of the old carrier pounded and crashed as we were rocked by the gigantic waves. Many prayers were offered up while we were at “General Quarters” and we truly were “Disturbed”.
But the Lord brought us through that devastating hurricane and we limped into New York Harbor in time to go into dry dock in the Brooklyn Navy yards for major repairs. We were there for four months. We always thought the Captain probably ended up sharpening pencils at the Pentagon, as I never did learn of his fate for choosing such an unwise course.
But I praise God for the storms that he allows us to experience, to know His power and His mighty deeds. He is an awesome God! He is Jesus!
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