Bucket List
Last weekend I was able to tick something off my bucket list. I got to sail around Sydney Harbour in a tall ship. Having lived in Sydney for a few years and been on many a ferry, the ride on the harbour was not all that different to what you’d experience heading over to Manly up the river to Balmain. But I have always wanted to sail on a tall ship.
Ever since I was young, I have had a fascination with tall ships. I grew up, captivated by the history of the might of the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars – this was fuelled by the mini-series Hornblower starring a young Ioan Gruffudd as the protagonist, Horatio Hornblower. My love of tall ships grew even more when I was young when a fleet of tall ships visited Hobart one summer and we travelled down to see them.
But, I had never sailed on one.
There was a sense of mysticism for me as we pulled away from the wharf. Then, to my disappointment (but not to my surprise), the sound of the engine roared to life and chugged us around the harbour. We did turn the engine off at one point and drop the sails, but there was barely any wind so we just kind of drifted around aimlessly.
You see, often we can build something up so much in our minds, that the experience we want becomes almost unattainable. We romanticise what we think it will be like and we think “If I can just do this one thing or tick this one experience off my bucket list, then I will be able to feel a sense of fulfilment that I wouldn’t necessarily have had otherwise”.
For me, Ithat was my two-hour ride on a tall ship. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great experience. Sydney Harbour is truly spectacular, no matter how many times you see it. But what I had built up in my mind did not match my expectations. I wonder if that is the same for you when you build up an experience?
Perhaps it is revisiting a significant place from your childhood and it’s just not as big as you remembered? Or you’d always wanted to visit somewhere, but when you finally did, it didn’t match the hype.
God is not like that.
In fact, he is everything you’d expect him to be and more, simply because of who he is and what he has done. Psalm 8:1 captures this when it says:
‘LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.’
By showing the world who he is, he gives everyone the opportunity to come to know him through his son. And that journey is a journey worth embarking on, because it leads to eternal life. For me, coming to faith in Jesus has been the ultimate experience in my life. It far outstrips any sort of experience that I find myself chasing and you may just find that for yourself too.
This reflection was first published in Orange City Life.
More Reflections.
Often, we build something up so much in our minds, that the experience we want becomes almost unattainable. We romanticise what we think it will be like and we think “If I can just do this one thing or tick this one experience off my bucket list, then I will be able to feel a sense of fulfilment that I wouldn’t necessarily have had otherwise”.