America, One Moment at a Time — #19

When the Water Looks Too Shallow — Finding the Channel

From our apartment in Lynn, I’ve become quite used to seeing the ferry that carries passengers across the water to Boston.

But today, something about it made me stop and look twice.

The tide was out.

Very much out.

The harbour looked as though someone had forgotten to put enough water in it.

And then the ferry appeared.

There it was. A rather large boat, calmly making its way through what looked, to me, like a surprisingly small amount of water.

I looked at the ferry.

Then at the water.

Then back at the ferry.

Clearly, it knew something I didn’t. 😄

Of course, the ferry has its navigable channel, and the tides are part of the everyday workings of the harbour.

But watching it today made me think about something much bigger than boats.

How often do we look at a situation and decide there isn’t enough?

Not enough room.

Not enough time.

Not enough certainty.

Not enough opportunity.

Sometimes, not enough water. 😄

Yet there may be a way through that we simply cannot see from where we are standing.

The ferry doesn’t need the whole harbour to be deep.

It just needs to know where the channel is.

Perhaps life is a little like that.

We often imagine that we need everything to be clear before we can move forward. We want the whole route mapped out, the circumstances just right, and preferably a reassuring sign saying, “Yes, you can proceed.”

Life, unfortunately, doesn’t always provide such helpful signage.

Maybe we don’t always need to see deep water ahead.

Maybe we just need to know our channel.

And keep moving.