Of Boats and Anchors… and Hope

One of the great things about the Easter season, particularly in the Christian world, is that it delivers a wonderful promise of hope. Hey, it’s the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, after his death on the cross over 2,000 years ago.

Jesus had just claimed victory over one of those things we all face sooner or later: death. Now that’s something worth celebrating, wouldn’t ya think?

But as I contemplated that blessed event this past week, I found my thoughts unexpectedly snagged on that little four-letter word, ‘hope’. I began to wonder: is my definition of ‘hope’ the same as yours?

Call me crazy, but I think it’s a very important question – critical, almost. After all, one of the main problems with any given communication is the words used may not necessarily mean the same to the speaker as to the hearer (or in this case, the writer to the reader).

So, let’s think about the word ‘hope’ for few minutes, and I’ll start with this simple question: What does the word ‘hope’ mean to you?

Common Definitions

I’ll tell ya; we’ve certainly heard it tossed around quite a bit these last few years, haven’t we? As a matter of fact, it became the mainstay of a certain politician’s political campaign as far back as three years ago. (Ironically enough though, these days it’s become the rallying cry of the opposition as well – but I digress.)

Just for fun, I checked several online dictionaries and came up with a few definitions (italics added by yours truly for emphasis):

• a specific instance of feeling hopeful; “it revived their hope of winning the pennant”
• the general feeling that some desire will be fulfilled; “in spite of his troubles he never gave up hope”
• promise: grounds for feeling hopeful about the future; “there is little or no promise that he will recover”
• expect and wish; “I trust you will behave better from now on”; “I hope she understands that she cannot expect a raise”
• be optimistic; be full of hope; have hopes; “I am still hoping that all will turn out well”

One of the things you’ll notice from all of these definitions (and there were many, many more, all of them pretty much in a similar vein) is the uncertainty in all of them. I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about it or not, but most of the time when folks use the word these days, hope is actually nothing more than a wish – albeit possibly a very powerful one.

Now I don’t mind tellin’ ya; I have a real problem with that. Why? Well, it has to do with this particular passage from the Bible – Hebrews, chapter 6 to be exact. Here’s a portion of two verses, 18 and 19:

“…we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast…” (NASB) (emphasis mine)

(Note from the Proprietor: this section is part of a much longer discourse the writer of Hebrews gives regarding the promises of God; nevertheless, they illustrate the point I want to make.)

If you’ll think about it for a bit, you’ll notice that word ‘hope’, as used by the writer (most folks think it was the Apostle Paul, but we don’t know for sure), is described as “an anchor of the soul”, right? Now, I don’t know about you, but that certainly leads me to think that ‘hope’ is certainly a lot more than just a fervently-held wish, wouldn’t ya say?

In fact, when I think of the word hope, I’m always reminded of… this boat. Is that weird? (Don’t answer that!)

Allow me to explain.

A Quick Boating Lesson

Some years ago, during a moment of insanity (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it), Mrs. MZM and I bought a sailboat. Oh, she was a beaut, I’ll tell ya! She was a cute little 25-footer, complete with a trailer so we could take it to different lakes near where we lived at the time. (At least, that was the plan.)

Anyway, in order to learn proper seamanship Mrs. MZM and I decided to enroll in a local boating course (something I highly recommend for all boaters – if not for your own sake, then for the rest of us out there on the water with you).

We learned, among other things, the fundamentals of navigation (admittedly not too difficult when you’re on a small lake), and how to tie about a hundred different knots. (Do you know how to make a “bowline on a bight”? Hey, we do! Well, we did – I’m afraid it’s been a while). Finally, we learned about proper anchoring techniques.

OK, for that last one, although there’s all kinds of anchor types for different conditions, there’s an easy rule of thumb: generally speaking, you need an anchor rope that’s seven times longer than the depth of the water. Now, at first blush, that may sound like a lotta rope (small boats use rope; chains are reserved for the big boys) but trust me, it’s not.

See, it’s like this: once your anchor is firmly planted on the bottom of a lake, river or bathtub, that length of rope gives your anchorage a certain resiliency. That’s because as it stretches out to its full length, the line sags a bit between the boat and the ground. This lets the rope act exactly like a shock absorber, preventing the anchor from being pulled out every time your boat goes up and down on the waves.

Now here’s the important part: if the anchor rope is too long, your boat becomes unstable; if it’s too short it will probably pull the anchor from the bottom and cast you loose in a storm. Definitely not a good thing!

Anyway, when I think of ‘hope’, I always recall that lesson. See, proper anchoring technique boils down to this: to do its job properly, the rope needs to connect to the anchor in a way that provides enough flexibility to handle the stormy waves.

So how does that apply to ‘hope’, you ask? Hey, I’m glad you asked!

Four Key Elements

Recall with me those Bible verses I mentioned earlier, particularly the phrases I emphasized in bold: “take hold of that hope” and “an anchor of the soul”. Now let’s consider for a few minutes. Notice, if you will, four things: the phrase “take hold of”, and the words hope, anchor and soul. Also note the relationship between these four elements.

Now imagine if you will (warning: metaphor alert!), your soul is a boat, floating out there on the waters of life. Sometimes it’s smooth waters and clear sailing; sometimes it can get pretty stormy, right?

Now, when you’re caught out there on the water when things start to get a little rough, experts will tell you that if at all possible, the safest thing to do is throw out the anchor and ride it out. Tryin’ to get back to the dock in rough weather can lead to disastrous consequences. (I happen to know this firsthand, as a matter of fact – but that’s another story.)

However, if you don’t use the right length of rope to connect to (to “take hold of”) the anchor, well, you could just be wastin’ your time! As I said before: too short and it won’t grip the bottom; too long, and you still get tossed all over the place – and may even capsize!

I love the fact that hope is described as an anchor for the soul. It’s a  wonderful explanation of how the word ‘hope’ is actually much more than just a wish. In reality, ‘hope’ is something you can count on with complete assurance. What’s more; in order to be truly effective, we have to take hold of that hope, just as the rope connects the boat to the anchor.

What Does It All Mean?

So what does all that mean, anyway?

Well, take the followers of Jesus, for instance, specifically the Apostles (all except Judas, who at this point was “out of the picture”, if you get my meanin’) on the night of his arrest by the Romans. All during Jesus’ ministry on Earth, these guys walked with Him, listened to the stories and parables He spoke, and witnessed the miracles He performed. All told, they spent three years of their lives with Him.

Now, after all that time you’d think the hope they placed in Jesus would be pretty sure, wouldn’t you? So what happened? On that fateful night, instead of sticking around, they ran for their lives!

See, the problem wasn’t that the object of their hope that was flawed. After all, Jesus, the perfect Son of God, was (and still is, for that matter) the best of all possible anchors. No, the problem was they had failed to take hold of that hope. It was their connection to their anchor that was faulty.

Now, take a look at how the Apostles acted after Jesus’ resurrection. The Bible and history tell us every single one of them became men of such unshakable and formidable Faith that persecution, torture, and even death couldn’t sway them from their new life’s purpose: to tell the world what happened.

For them, their hope had indeed become “an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast”.

Hope, the Anchor of the Soul

Anyway, that’s why I have a problem with the way most folks use that word ‘hope’. As you can see, it’s not just a desire, a feeling, or a fervently-held wish. Nope; ‘hope’ is something solid and dependable; something you can count on.

That’s why the celebration of Easter offers so much hope – because Jesus is One you can truly count on!

Hey, a big ol’ tip o’ the hat to y’all, and have a great Easter, y’hear?

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Can a tiny little bit of resentment really be all that bad? I mean, it’s so small, and that – well, let’s call it anger ’cause that’s what it really is – is just a lil’ tiny thing, ain’t it? Besides, sometimes holding a little anger in can be kinda delicious, can’t it?

But over the years I’ve come to realize that no matter how teeny tiny that anger starts out, it can still have an amazing grip on my heart. Here’s what I mean…

Lord of My Domain

There’s just something about owning your own home, you know? Please forgive me if I come across as all that, y’all. I dunno; maybe it’s a sortof “lord of your domain” kind of thing when you “own” a patch of God’s green Earth for yourself, y’know?

Anyhoo – I derive a certain satisfaction standing on my front porch, looking out over the small patch of land I owe so much money on own. Having performed this exercise more than a few times, I’ve gotten rather familiar with my own property. What’s more, it’s pretty easy to tell when there’s something not quite right. A disturbance in the force, perhaps? An object that didn’t belong?

Suddenly I spotted the offensive element – right at my feet! Oh, the horror! There in my front garden – right next to the walk where any visitor could see it – was a (sound of terrified scream) weed! Well, it really wasn’t all that big. In fact, it was only about 2 inches tall. But set against our dark brown mulch, the bright green leaves made it easy to see.

OK; now you’re probably thinkin’ to yourself, What the heck is the big deal? I mean, it’s only a weed, right? I mean, it’s not like it was a triffid or anything. And you’d be correct up to a point. After all, when you have a garden, finding a weed here and there is pretty much a given. (Find a triffid, on the other hand, and you’d better run for your life! Just sayin’.)

Anyway, I did what any self-respecting homeowner woulda done: I reached down to gently, er, rip the little booger outta the ground (you have to do it just right or you don’t get the roots out, you know), only to find… the darned thing wouldn’t budge! Harumph.

Now, that kinda surprised me, since this particular weed was so small. I mean, how deep could the roots be, anyway? And how strong? After all, I’m a big, giant man – and I’m ‘waaay stronger than any puny little ol’ weed! So I bent down, got a better grip on the weed’s stem, and started pulling, gently but firmly. With fairly steady pressure, it would eventually let go.

At first, nothing happened. Finally, I saw it slowly coming loose. The only thing was, a surprisingly large patch of the garden was coming up with it! My eyebrow lifted in a remarkable imitation of Mr. Spock, and I’m almost sure I heard the word, “Fascinating” in the whisper of the breeze.

Sheesh, I thought, what’s this thing wrapped around? Those dang roots must be down somewhere near China! I had visions of unearthing a misplaced treasure chest filled with lost pirate’s gold or something. And now I had to pull that out along with the offending weed.

Finally, I got it completely out of the ground, and was rewarded with my Catch of the Day: a two-inch weed attached to a big clump of dirt – and a four-inch piece of wood! I’m tellin’ ya; that weed wasn’t gonna give up without a fight!

Anyway, having come out the victor in this particular battle of wills, I sneered in my best Jimmy Cagney impression, “Nyah; thought ya had me, ya little weasel! But I showed ya who was boss here, didn’t I! Nyah!” (Hey, sometimes I gotta be my own entertainment.)

Needless to say, that little weed never stood a chance against someone as big as me (not that I’m, er, big, mind you!) But what surprised me was the way the roots of that little guy managed to get such a good grip on that piece of wood – not to mention the sizable clump of dirt it brought out with it.

The thing is, roots can be like that, can’t they? They work their way into the tiniest of crevices in dirt, rocks or whatever, and can be heck to completely get out. And wow, they can have quite the deathgrip, if you know what I mean.

The Root of Bitterness

There’s an interesting statement in the Bible (actually, it’s in Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 15, if you care to look it up) that uses a word-picture combination that has always stuck with me. Here’s the verse:

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled…

… and the words of interest are right there in the middle: root of bitterness.

What’s a root of bitterness, you may ask? Well, it’s a fair question. A root of bitterness is what the writer of Hebrews calls that little, angry, resentful feeling you get when you don’t like bein’ disciplined for your own good.

Remember when you were a little kid, and you did something stupid, or wrong, or mean? Chances are good that your parents, or your teacher (or hopefully someone appropriate) laid some discipline on ya, right? It happens all the time, even when we’re grown up, too.

Everywhere we turn, life, the universe, and everything tends to discipline us when we do stuff that’s out of line, doesn’t it? Oh, it might not be right away. I mean, you may think you’re getting away with it. But I’m tellin’ ya; sooner or later, she all comes home to roost, if you get my meanin’.

Here’s where the rubber meets the road, though. If you’re still teachable (hopefully that includes you!), then that discipline actually serves to make you a better person. But if you’re not… well, you may just end up a bitter, angry person. Hey, you know it’s true, right?

I find the choice of those particular words “root of bitterness” fascinating, don’t you? It describes perfectly what’s happening down inside your heart. Even the tiniest bit of anger, just like that tiny little weed, can get quite a grip on the fabric of your soul. Once there, it can be pretty tough to root out, y’know?

What to do? Well, it’s pretty simple, really. Just deal with whatever the situation is that caused the anger. And whatever you do – don’t  let it fester or it’ll get worse! Roots have a way of growin’ deep when you ignore ‘em. I’m just sayin.

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Photo: Tiny weed, by bishib70

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