I stood in line with 100 unsuspecting tourists waiting to board an oversized floating bathtub.  After an eternal hour of pitching up and down to get to the alleged fishing hole the captain dropped his anchor.  Now the boat swayed as people staggered on untested sea legs to drop their fishing lines over the side.  Suddenly the guy next to me vomited, and then the guy next to him followed suit – it was like a zipper of sea-sickness unzipping in all directions.  For the next five miserable hours, we were all hostages to the waves, literally stuck on the same boat.

Now imagine the seasoned sailors in their wooden boat on the Mediterranean, some 3000 years ago, fighting for life against the worst storm they had ever seen.  In desperation, a Hebrew passenger named Jonah finally confesses that he was the reason for the storm because he was fleeing from God.   Ironically, at that fearful moment, these pagan sailors were stuck on the same boat with a religious guy who didn’t want to preach to the pagans.

And this is the point for the day.  We are all on the same boat.

When individuals are afraid, fear can spread to communities and even unzip itself all across the country.  Likewise, when individuals prosper, communities and countries seem to follow.

That’s because we are all on the same boat called earth.  Every one of us (Christian and pagan, religious and irreligious) experience joy, pain, love, loss, life and death.  What happens to our neighbor does affect us.  Truly we are all on the same boat.

So today, let’s ask God to show us something we might say or do to help someone (no matter what their religious beliefs) who might be struggling.

Perhaps it’s a phone call of encouragement.  Maybe it’s a love note or an apology.  It could be a visit, or even some cookies. . .