The Messenger
Chapter One
YOU SENT HIM TO ME
(Late January, A.D. 62)
THE SEA IS A LONELY PLACE WHEN IT STORMS.
On calmer days, the sea draws men into natural community. A
ship's crew must work together to trim sails and steer a course. Passengers
congregate on deck to share stories and pass the hours in the company
of others. There is something about the business of traveling by
water that throws men together and binds them in common cause.
But in a storm, every man turns inward and becomes a solitary
sailor. Hard winds and high waves drive a man onto the reef of himself.
Detached, he must face his own private miseries. Isolated, he
must confront his own personal fears. In a storm, though others may
be present on the boat, each man faces the tempest alone.
* * *
It was storming this day. The ashen skies squatted close to the
sea-wind and water locked in tight embrace-with the ship, an
unwilling partner, caught between. The gale whipped across the gray
swells, taking up foam and spray and hurling them angrily at ... read full excerpt from: The Messenger ebook
