Taking the ship.


He had been running the departure camp for so long he had forgotten about his trip. Daily there were new arrivals, clamouring for some advice, some sympathy, needing a meal or two and calling out for some security and hope.

The ship came by at irregular intervals and only stopped for a short while before it resumed its endless circumnavigation of the world. All sorts were gathered for their journeys. Tall, short, fat, thin, dark, blonde, male, female and the in betweens. They came in their thousands.

Some were so preoccupied with their look they would wear on the voyage that they missed their embarkation. Others disembarked only to find they had arrived back where they had started, so busy trying to get themselves upgraded they’d missed their true destination and had travelled in a circle, moving on but getting nowhere.

Now it was these that took up most of his time. They would push to the front of the queue their hands outstretched in supplication whilst all they shy, modest and bewildered stood patiently at the back wondering what all the commotion was. Help me, they cried in their desolation.

He had been young, full of energy and ambition when he had begun the journey to the coast and had marvelled at the multitudes who converged towards the shore. All he knew was that he wanted to share what was within him with the world, his talents and his understandings of life and most of all his happiness and innocent hope. But along the way he met with fellow travellers who had given up, who sat by the roadside, crying, thinking they would never get to their destination.. Come with me, he had said and helped them on their way.

By the time he had arrived at the coast a ship was looming on the horizon. His heart leapt as he saw his chance. But as he started running to the shore, he couldn’t help noticing all the sad and bewildered, who, agitated by their despair and misery could not see the ship that sailed towards them. He turned back towards them and felt love rise in his heart. For he had been instructed in the ways of the Spirit and its love. It was the spirit that had set him on his journey, so how could he ignore this suffering and be true to the spirit. He sighed for he knew he must help.

Soon he had established a camp for the lost and bewildered, helping them to prepare for the journey and each time the ship appeared he was happy in the knowledge that these people could find their way easily.

Many years passed and he was no longer a boy, he was a man. One day he ran down to the water’s edge to escape the throng and looked at his reflection in the water. Where there had been gold hair there was now grey, he was approaching middle age. and he struggled as he seemed to remember something, something about a forgotten journey of his own. He did not mind as he was so preoccupied that he had had no time to even think of it. And all his ambitions and hopes faded as if they had never existed. He had became tired and weary without even realising.

The stream of those that came to him who felt helpless or hopeless was constant. And because he gave help they came to expect it and then to demand it. There were angry cries if he even for one moment withdrew to sit by himself and recollect why he had come here. They clamoured by the door demanding he came out with tears and what seemed almost threats.

It was around this time that the others began to arrive with their high tales about the journey. There was something different about these travellers, there was a faint sparkle about them as they regaled those who waited with what they had seen on their travels. Tales of famous names and famous places.

At first he felt relieved that they had arrived as the multitudes gathered around them to listen to their tall stories and it gave him time to reflect on his own purpose. But soon they began to seek him out in private. They would tell him their tales of high adventure as if they sought to impress him and something of their former glamour fascinated him. But it soon became apparent they too wanted his help, they too wanted to get back on board a ship they felt they should never have left. They used subtle threats and emotional blackmail and he began to resent these all the more as it became obvious to him that they had disembarked through their own folly and vanity. And the truly needy, who had come to him for advice, they kept away in their selfish sense of their own importance. Couldn’t he understand who they were, who they had been?

By now there was an angry clamour outside the camp. Everyone was jostling everyone else, swearing at each other as they tried to push their way to the front to get his attention. Enough, he thought, and he stood on an old stone to get some height above the crowds so he could see them all and address them better. When they saw him they became silent for a moment, wondering what he had to say. Then, just as he was about to speak, he saw the ship on the horizon, pulling towards the shore. And it seemed someone on the ship was waving to him and though the crowds clamoured he didn’t hear them as his attention was focused on the ship.

It was almost docked and he could clearly hear his name being called above the sighs and cries of the crowds around him.

    “Enough!” He cried to them. “Enough! I have been here for you through the hot seasons and through the cold seasons and I had forgotten my journey. The key is within yourselves, not from another. and as for you who have come off the ship, or rather been thrown off for your arrogant behaviour, you must look to yourselves and accept what you have caused.”

And the crowds were all silent, amazed that he dare to speak to them like this. He stepped off the rock and began to make his way through them as they parted like waves to let him pass.

    As he approached the ship, a mechanical stairway was let down into the water and without looking back once he climbed up till he had reached the deck. There was the sound of laughter, though he couldn’t see anyone else, and he seemed to hear familiar voices saying “Well done!” around him. Presently the captain, who had been waving to him, appeared.
    “We have been expecting you for some time.” He said. “Please, make yourself comfortable and enjoy the journey, there is nothing to fear.”

And as he strolled round the ship he noticed others, just like him, who smiled at him and the ship pulled away from the shore and into the sun. Then suddenly the sunlight caught the image of a young man, golden haired, with bright, clear, wide eyes who smiled at him as he smiled. They seemed to recognise each other and then he realised, it was his own reflection and the years of hardship had melted back into the water and the squabbling crowds lay hundreds of miles behind him.