Isaiah 58:11: “And the Lord shall guide thee continually and satisfy your soul in a drought.”
“Twas right, said they, such bird to slay, that bring such fog and mist. “
“Ah, well a day, what evil looks, had I from old and young
Instead of the cross an Albatross around my neck was hung.”
-Samuel Taylor Coleridge – Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
In Coleridge’s longest poem, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, he writes a Christian allegory discussing the nature of natural events in a world of religious uncertainty. He explores the question of post hoc ergo propter hoc (rationalization of natural occurrence). The poem tells the story of a man on his way to a wedding when he is stopped by an elderly Mariner who insist on telling his story. As the Mariner relates his story the gentleman listening moves from bemusement, to impatience to fear to fascination. I find myself moving through this same cycle as God takes me through my journey to discover His heart. I have gone from bemusement to impatience to fear and now to fascination.
The Mariner tells how his ship was blown off course into the Antarctic. An Albatross appears and guides them out of the Antarctic. The Mariner shots the Albatross with a cross bow and the crew curse the Mariner as they feel this will bring bad luck. Luck does not seem to favor them for a while and the Mariner is forced to wear the dead Albatross around his neck by the crew to remind them as to who is responsible for their misfortune. Then their fortunes change and the crew insist it was proper to have shot the Albatross, then fortunes change again and again the Mariner is blamed for having killed the Albatross and Mariner continues to wear the Albatross around his neck.
We are forced to consider the question, is the Albatross responsible for all the fortunes or misfortunes the crew suffered? The Albatross is symbolic of the Christian soul and its journey to discern the influence of the spiritual world with the natural world. Was it the Albatross that really lead them out of danger or was it just a natural occurrence of the migration of the Albatross.
As I travel this journey to discover the heart of God I find myself in the same situation of the Mariner. I find times I really need an answer to prayer or to hear from God, so I queue up my I Pod to my favorite worship song and then, wow, I get my answer to prayer. The next time I need answer to prayer or to hear from God I queue of that song again, but nothing happens. So I start to fast and pray, but things only get worse. I go to church, I toss a tithe in the offering plate and then, wow, I get my answer to prayer. But then there is that little voice inside of me asking if I am not like this ancient Mariner. Are these little things I do, listening to worship music, fasting, praying and paying my tithe merely an Albatross that I wear around my neck? Are my fortunes and/or misfortunes the result of these Albatrosses or just natural events? Is it God or an Albatross around my neck that I can blame for every fortune or misfortune, for every prayer that is answered or not answered?
Isaiah 58:11 tells us that God guides us. The word guide is nachah which is simply to lead. The word nachah is spelled Nun, which represents faith and Cheth which is a heart joined with God’s heart that leads you to the Hei, the presence of God.
If we are led (nachah) by God then our soul will be satisfied in a period of draught. It will be His presence that will satisfy us. The word satisfied is shava’ which is the same word for the number seven and means complete or total. We will be satisfied in days of draught. The word draught in Hebrew is tsachach which means barrenness or lack of accomplishment. This is a time when we have no answer to prayer and we seemingly are not hearing from God. Yet the Bible promises we will be shava’ satisfied or complete and total during this time.
At times I stop and look at my own situation and I seem to be in a time of tsachach (draught, barrenness) a time when God does not seem to be doing anything in or with my life. Is my so called misfortune the result of an Albatross around my neck or a cross around my neck? Have I been led to my present state, this state of seeming tsachach or barrenness, lack of accomplishment by an Albatross (my own soul) or by the cross? If I have been led by the cross then according to Isaiah 58:1 these events, this tsachach, barrenness, lack of accomplish are meant only to lead me to a completeness in Christ, even if there is no deliverance, no accomplishments, His grace will be sufficient for me. I think of my time of silence during my silent retreat. I accomplished nothing in the eyes of the world, I experienced no answers to prayer, yet I never felt more complete in Jesus than I did during that time of tsachach, barrenness or lack of accomplishment.
When the Mariner wore the albatross around his neck it was a metaphor of carrying a burden around his neck in doing penance. When I put my faith in Jesus Christ, trusting in Him and Him alone for my salvation, He removed that Albatross from around my neck and replaced it with a cross. Thus I should carry no burden around my neck to achieve accomplishments. I cannot point to my misfortunes or lack of accomplishments (tsachach) as the result of sins for which I must do penance. I can only say that my present tsachach barrenness and lack of accomplishments are being orchestrated by God and although I may feel like I am in a draught, Isaiah 58:11 tells me I can look to him and he is all I need to satisfy my soul.
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