I've received several emails asking about the name of the blog.  They have been along the lines of, "Why would someone who grew up in West Texas and now lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia have a blog called 'Leaving the Lifeboat?'"  An excellent question for which I have an answer.

My favorite television show is "Deadliest Catch."  I guess I enjoy it because the life of an Alaskan crab fisherman is about as far removed from my life as I can imagine.  One episode featured interviews with survivors of a boat that sank during a storm.  A survivor was asked, "What was the most frightening part of the ordeal?"  I will never forget the gist of his answer.

He spoke about the confusion surrounding the order to abandon ship.  He recalled the horror of having to jump into the freezing water in the middle of the night.  You could see the emotional pain in his face when he spoke about the physical pain associated with the extremely cold water and the difficulty in swimming to the life boat.  Then, he told the most terrifying part of the experience.

The most terrifying part of the experience for him came at the point that I thought would be the place of greatest joy.  In a very slow monotone he said the most terrifying moment came when the Coast Guard located them and sent a diver into the water.  The diver said something to the survivors to the effect, "The hardest part is over.  All you have to do is get in the basket and everything will be okay."  With the words of the diver the crewman froze, became motionless, due to uncontrollable fear.

He looked at the camera with tears in his eyes and spoke about his refuge, the life boat that had saved him from the water, protected him from the cold, and gave him hope.  Now, he was being asked to leave the life boat.  At the core of his being, something screamed at him, "Leave the life boat and you will die."  When his turn came to be lifted to the safety of the helicopter waiting above, he did not want to leave the life boat.  Rationally he knew that survival necessitated his leaving the life boat.  He was terrified.  He summoned all his courage, got out of the life boat and lived!

For me, this story symbolizes the essence of life, faith, and hope.  It is so simple to get locked into our way of life.  We are safe and warm in our comfort zone.  We believe that the key to life is staying where we are.  What we fail to realize is that often our since of security, our comfort, is killing us.  We have become so conditioned to our life boat that we fail to step out of the familiar, we are terrified to step out of the boat to new life.  So, stuck in our own problems, issues, patterns, habits, routines, we slowly but surely emotionally, spiritually, and (sometimes) physically die.  It is time we left the life boat.  My prayer for myself, my prayer for you, "May you leave your life boat and save your life."

Mark 8:35-36, Jesus said, "For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.  For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?"