A Sailor's Hymn

A SAILOR'S HYMN

Mary Elizabeth Rhudy


I was a sailor in the United States Navy.  I am a sailor in the United States Navy. I have sailed all seven seas and in both oceans. And I have seen the delights of many a foreign port as a young seaman and as an old Master Chief. But if I live to be three hundred years old, I will never forget the storm that raged that day on the North Atlantic during the Great War.
I was not much older than you are now, son, and on my second enlistment. We were taking a shipment of Marines and supplies over to France and hell-bent on making as much trouble for the Hun as we could along the way. I had had the last watch of the night and saw the red dawn coming over the horizon. I don't know if you've ever heard the old saying, "Red sky at night, sailor's delight; red sky at morn, sailors be warned." Well, the sky I saw coming over the horizon was a fierce purple red, and to make it even more worrisome, there was a sort of angry calm in the air. You could see the tension in the men's faces. The seas were calm, but the air was charged with electricity. Something truly nasty was brewing.
The morning watches went fairly well with no enemy sightings. The men, though, went about their duties without the usual chatter and joking. Everyone was on tenterhooks and seemed afraid to make much noise for fear of angering whatever powers ruled the weather. I took over the helm, again, at 14:00, and it was not long after that that the seas began to kick up and the winds began to whip about as if they planned to do us as much mischief as they could.
Within half an hour of my taking the helm, the skies turned pitch black and the ocean got up on its hind legs and began to walk. We clocked the winds at as high as a hundred knots. A nor-easter was blowing in and was going to sink our convoy if it might. There were some pretty green Marines and sailors on the ship that day, and I don't just mean new recruits fresh out of boot camp. The seas were tossing our ships about like toys in a bathtub, and we were all retching up our guts with every other wave. Even when there was nothing left to bring up, the seas kept us retching until we thought we would turn ourselves inside out from the effort.
I had been struggling to maintain control of the wheel ever since the storm blew up, and I knew I couldn't fight much longer. The helm wasn't answering well since the seas kept bringing our stern up out of the water. This was making the wheel harder and harder to control. My arms had been fatigued long before, but by now the muscles felt as if they were on fire and would burst from the efforts.
Somewhere - I don't know from where - I felt the sounds of the Navy hymn. I was fighting so hard to maintain my control over the wheel that I couldn't tell if the music was coming from outside of me or inside my head. But I could hear the sweet music that is a mother's lullaby to every sailor.

"Eternal Father Strong to Save
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidst the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep,
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea.

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy Word,
Who walked on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!"

I heard the words coming from somewhere other than myself, and then I heard them coming from my own lips. As the words flowed from my heart through my mouth, I felt a soothing silence flow over the ship. The storm was raging all about us, but we seemed to be cocooned in a calm that was not to be defeated. I felt arms wrap my shoulders in their strength and hands cover mine in a gentle grasp that warmed me to my soul. I found my arms had the strength to control the wheel, and my heart took flight as our ship sailed with pride and with brave grace over the storm-ravaged ocean.
As the calm spread through the hearts of our men, I heard the hymn taken up by the hundreds of hearts and voices aboard.

"Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our children shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect us wheresoever we go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea."

Our ship's captain told me later that as he was making his way up to the wheelhouse, he looked up at me and saw me surrounded by a light whiter than anything he had ever seen before. He saw a being surround me with itself, wrap its arms around me, and take control of my hands on the wheel. He couldn't quite make out a face, but he knew that whoever it was was sent in answer to our sung prayer. There is a poster that was painted that shows a young sailor with his hands on the ship's wheel during a raging storm and Christ's hands on his guiding the ship to port. I know there is only One Power that could have saved us that day in the North Atlantic.