Sailing with strength

I’ve been on a sailing team for three years and recently learned to skipper a boat. I love sailing as a crew member, but skippering is really different. When you’re the skipper, you have to make a lot of very quick decisions based on not only the wind, currents, tide, and racecourse, but also where the other boats are in relation to yours. If you don’t consider everything, you might crash into another boat or break one of the rules and get a penalty.

It can feel incredibly intense and stressful, but it does not have to be. I have learned in Christian Science Sunday School that in these stressful moments I can pray and listen to God. God is omnipresent—everywhere. So no matter where you are or what situation you find yourself in, God, who is infinite intelligence, is right with you, and you can always hear God’s guidance. I recently had an experience that showed me that these ideas learned in Sunday School are applicable and true.

While we’d learned how to deal with what happens when you capsize, I had never had it happen to me before, and I was worried that we would have trouble righting the boat.