Also, there are warnings against taking illegal drugs, and strict regulations about throwing garbage into the sea, etc.
I couldn't resist taking a picture of the one I saw on board the MV Ototachibana. ( The ship is named after an ancient Japanese princess. )
Notice that on the right side of the poster it says, " MAY ALL VOYAGES BE BORING "
James Russel Lowel ( 1819 - 1891 ) an American poet once said about the sea; " There is nothing so desperately monotonous ( boring ) as the sea."
Seafarers would agree with Lowel.. Ask them if life is boring, monotonous and lonely at sea and they will definitely agree! What you read on the picture, has a different meaning of course. When you " SAIL ON SAFETY '' there is less chance of accidents, fires, injuries etc. So then, this kind of boring or boredom is meant in a positive way....SAFETY!
While looking at that sentence I thought about being bored. There are certainly people who have boring jobs doing the same job day after day, year in year out, especially when you work on an assembly line. Many people keep doing their ( boring ) job till retirement. They hate it but the retirement package is too good to pass by........I heard a story about a train engineer ( a well-paying job )who drives trains from Delta Port to Kamloops and back. He complained about how boring his job is. Imagine that. And here I am dreaming of driving along some day, every time I see a train!
I have the same experience when I see a ship leave. How I would love to go with them and cross the ocean. But then I stop myself knowing that it wouldn't take me long to get bored on that " desperately monotonous " sea.
I was thinking of " MAY ALL VOYAGES BE BORING " from a spiritual perspective.......Are you bored in your walk with God? Are you tired and bored of going to church every Sunday....year after year?
The life of a Christian is a voyage, a pilgrimage...............sometimes it seems it is like that voyage at sea - desperately monotonous/boring - always the same waves, always the endless monotonous sea. Sometimes you feel you are in a raging storm and you think you are going to perish. Even then we have to remember that no matter where we are at in the ' voyage ' of our lives...IN CHRIST WE SAIL ON SAFETY.....Guaranteed!
