NEVER ALONE

While serving in the U.S. Navy during the Cold War years, I was assigned to a radar picket ship that patrolled the North Pacific Ocean under the air routes between Siberia and the United States/Canadian West Coast. We operated alone, never with another ship or convoy. It was not unusual to go three weeks without seeing another ship or aircraft of any sort

I vividly remember one night when I went to the bridge to stand my assigned watch between midnight and 4 a.m. The night was cold and dark (it was February). The ship’s crew, aside from those on watch, was asleep. As I stood on the bridge and looked out at the endless sea and sky, I felt as though I were the only person on earth. Never had I ever felt so alone, nor have I since.

All I could see was starlight and moonlight. The only noise was the humming of the ship’s engines. My only other sensation was the vastness of the universe and my small place in it. I knew the meaning of the verse, “Oh, Lord, thy sea is so vast, and my boat so small.” It would be easy, and perhaps expected, to say that I heard the Lord speak to me then. If He did, I didn’t immediately get the message. Instead, I arranged for another member of the watch to join me on the bridge so I wouldn’t be completely alone.

As I look back on the incident, the Lord did indeed speak to me with a two-fold message: First, we are never completely alone in this universe; He is always present with us. Secondly, the messages of comfort the Lord gives us are not always written in neon lights, but often take a simpler form, whether it’s a sense of wonder or the comfort of a friend. It is up to us to discern them.

— Ken Hill

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist