The Convoy

Lake County Mail, Issue 38, 25 February 1948, Page 2

The Convoy

It is early in the morning when the convoy, escorted by warships, set out from the port. In the safe keeping of each master was the identical orders as to direction, speed and change of direction. These orders had been carefully compiled, taking into consideration the capabilities of cveiy ship to travel in that convoy. Yet something went wrong! Life is like a convoy —man is a social animal and was ’fneant to live together in community life. Man has been given a set of rules, rules compiled by Almighty God taking into consideration the capabilities of ea'cli and every individual soul. These rules are there for us, to guide us, and they are called a Code of Morals. Many people think of Almighty God as someone snooping round to see if the people in the world are having a good time and then trying to stop them. God is not like that. He, we have been taught, is a loving Father. lie wants us to enjoy life and get the best out of life. He wants us to be happy, but as theie are so many others in this world besides ourselves we have to have rules to guide and help us. If you look round the world you will see there are three ways of human error; —(1) People drift apart; (2) they come into conflict; (3) they never fulfil their ultimate purpose. Think of the convoy system, established as soon as war broke out by the naval authorities in Britain to overcome the serious losses sustained by ships sailing alone. Single vessels were too easy a target for the IJ-boat, so they went in convoy under the protective barrier of warships. Thus many millions of tons of shipping and goods arrived or departed from Great Britain. In a convoy the purpose of it is abandoned if ships decide not to obey the rules. They will go their own way, they will drift apart or come into collision, and even end up at the wrong port! We in the world must have a set of rules, also. We must maintain an even speed, even with the rest of the convoy, we must not change direction until we are told to, etc. Apply that to your human life—you have to live it in relationship to the community. There are certain rules you must obey for the good of the community. Secondly, it is useless having these rules compiled if the vessels are such crazy tubs that they cannot maintain their standard. So many people say it docs not matter what I do, it does not affect anyone else. It does matter if the crew neglects the ship to such an extent that it fails to respond to the helm or drops behind the rest of the vessels in the convoy. It makes for collision, or for drifting apart. What I do does affect the rest of the people even if it is not noticed or fails visibly to affect other’s lives. My sins affect the world —even my most secret ones. The third thing about a convoy is that it is useless if the convoys sets out for Adelaide and ends up in San Francisco. Or, to change the analogy, we know that a band has various instruments; the score is written taking into account the capabilities of every instrument, and the player. Bach player must come in at the right time. He lias to discipline himself and follow the rules. But it is still a failure if the band is employed as a dance band and plays nothing but “ dead marches.” Most people can see that they must live and work in harmony with others, on all stages, individual or national. But few realise that there must be that interior harmony in one’s life, that everything one does matters and affects our relationship with others, and fewer still realise that the aim and object of life makes a great difference. Christian morality—that set of moral laws helps us to live in harmony with others, within ourselves, and provides for the right purpose and aim in life! Phillip C. Williams.