Luke 15

Liz Dumain

I'm reading a book at the moment called "The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst". Crowhurst was a British businessman and amateur sailor who set off to sail around the world singlehanded, in order to win the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. He entered the race hoping to win the substantial cash prize from the Sunday Times to achieve fame as a sailor and aid his failing business. However even before the race he encountered all kinds of set backs, finally leaving to start the race at the very last minute with bits of his equipment in pieces waiting to be assembled while he was at sea!

Unsurprisingly, he encountered problems, and secretly abandoned the race - but continued to radio in his alleged progress to the race organisers. He was actually reporting false positions in an attempt to appear to complete the circumnavigation without actually circling the world! Sadly he died at sea before ever completing the race so no one will ever know the real reasons behind his decision and what his state of mind was while he was out at sea. Crowhurst ended his life miles off course and will be remembered for this strange end to his days rather than anything else his life might have achieved.

As a reader this leaves me so frustrated! It didn't have to be this way! Even after the split second decision on the first day to report a false position in order to cover up the fact he was doing so badly - this didn't have to be the end of it. He continued to make daily decisions to deceive people, to cover up where he really was, reinforcing one bad decision with another until his whole life became a deception, when things could have been so different!

It reminds me so much of the younger son in Luke 15, the initial decision to take his inheritance and please himself, the frittering it away, the ending up eating pig food - and then the 'coming to his senses' and going home.

The younger son's initial decision to ask for his inheritance early was shocking enough - it was outrageous! The seriousness of it is lost on us today when so many rely on the 'bank of mum & dad' to get us through life. In Jesus' time his listeners would have understood that to demand your inheritance from a living father was equivalent to saying, "Father, I wish you were dead".

But then........ to take that inheritance and waste it away, pleasing himself, led to his whole life ending up off-course. But finally, the moment comes - he comes to his senses and realises what he's done and goes home. He would have been expecting humiliation and punishment, but decides to 'face the music' 'fess up' and go home.

That's what Donald Crowhurst never did - he never confessed where he really was. He chose to continue the deception and stay off-course - he never 'came to his senses' and tried to go home, even though there was the opportunity to do so every minute of every day.

But what about us?

If we are 'off-course' we have a choice - every minute of every day........ Choosing to put ourselves and our lives in the hand of God (or not), is a new decision and commitment every day, and every day we can choose to 'go home' and put it right or continue off-course. We also need to remember that our course and choices affect others. Other sailors on the race made navigating decisions and choices based on the (incorrect) reports of how well Crowhurst was doing. His deception dragged others off course. Whether we like it or not, our life choices can encourage others' on their course or drag them away by the decisions they see us take in our lives.

So - let's resolve together to seek to stay on-course. To follow God's lead and calling and keep a check on whether we are drifting (or intentionally sailing full into the wind) off course. And if we do drift or sail off course, let's 'come to our senses' and the minute we do - lets do what we have to do, remembering that in the distance is our loving Father who waits, arms outstretched, to welcome us home.