An Anchor for The Soul | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: An Anchor for The Soul | Previous Challenge Entry
By Diane M. Bowman
03/12/15
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A man o' war, The Soul, creaked and shook as fierce waves tossed her back and forth. Two rain-drenched men stood nose to nose on the poop deck. They'd thought this would be a pleasure trip but instead were battling for their lives.

"It's absurd. We can't do it. No one has went there and lived. We may as well die on the open sea." Captain Falteringheart shouted over the noise of the storm.

First Mate Unwaveringmind responded, "It's our only hope, it is. I know we can make it, we can. We must, we must."

A tall, strong man, the captain's one fault was guiding the ship on his feelings rather than on facts. In sharp contrast, his short, grizzled, and rather homely first mate primarily based his decisions on the truth.

"Look." The first mate handed a spyglass to the captain. "Do you see that ship, do you? It's sailing towards Nonpareil's Harbor, it is. We need to follow it, we do."

"Of course it is." Falteringheart responded in disgust. "Did you see the name on it? It's The Forerunner, captained by Nonpareil's son."

"His son?" Unwaveringmind asked in wonderment. "That's better than I could've hoped, it is. He's the only one who can allow us in, he is." He turned and called out to the crew, "Unfurl the sails. Follow that ship."

"What are you doing? We will certainly die. The only one allowed in that harbor is Nonpareil's appointed one and then only for a short time once each year."

"Haven't you read the old writings? They tell of the coming of his son, they do. Once he enters the harbor, it's open for all who believe in him, it is."

"But no one has ever seen into the harbor. The fog is so thick it completely veils it. How do we know there is really a place of shelter there?"

"Don't worry. I believe there is, I do. We must find refuge, we must."

Captain Falteringheart relented. He knew there was no use in arguing with his first mate when he started referring to the old writings.

As the ship turned in the direction of the harbor, the pair slipped and slid their way across the wet deck to the place the anchors were stored.

"We'll use this anchor. It's the heaviest one we have."

"No, Captain. The anchor Fear will keep you moored in a shallow harbor on a tropical island when you really ought to sail out to sea but it'll never work in Nonpareil's Harbor, it won't. The rope's too short to plumb the depths, it is."

"Oh. Then use this one. Its rope is extremely long."

"Not the anchor Doubt. It's far too light, it is. It's so easily bent, it'll never hold the ship against the waves, it won't."

"The only one left is the anchor Hope but we both know that we never use that one." The captain's exasperation was evident.

"That's because it always loses its hold, it does. Thing is, you can only use the anchor Hope in Nonpareil's Harbor, you can. Drop it anywhere else and you'll be sorely disappointed, you will."

They found the sailing much smoother following The Forerunner. The storm still raged but the larger ship broke the massive waves, leaving calmer waters in its wake. The captain's frayed nerves began to calm until he saw a wall of the densest fog he'd ever seen straight ahead.

"We're going to die now. Let's turn back. Surely the open sea is better than sailing into an unknown harbor in the fog." He pleaded.

Unwaveringmind smiled. "Look again. The Forerunner has broken the fog, it has. It's gone, it is. Now do you believe there's a harbor there?"

Indeed, the fog had vanished and revealed a harbor so splendid in both its magnificence and its beauty that words could not describe it. The men stood in silent reverence as The Soul entered the harbor. Never had a place felt so safe, not in the entire world. They dropped the anchor Hope over the side and felt a tug as it surely and steadfastly gripped the sea floor.

The storm didn't end, at least not right away, but The Soul was safe and secure. Waves still tossed her but she suffered no damage as she rode out the storm in Nonpareil's harbor, anchored by Hope.

Author's Note:
An allegory drawn from Hebrews 6:17-20 KJV

That... we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus...

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