Since I use the magnificent sea link in Mumbai very often, I was saddened to hear that yesterday another businessman had jumped into the Arabian Sea, from the bridge. As usual, it was someone who felt he had failed in business and seemed to have decided to end his life!
I would liken suicide to a man or woman standing perilously close to the edge of the Niagara Falls, and then as the torrent of disastrous circumstances pulls him down, he is swept into the waters and over the edge to instant death.
The first question many people ask is, why did that person get into those perilous waters?
Ah, but without risk taking, whether in business, affairs of the heart or even marriage, one can never be sure of success. The man or woman with a successful marriage quite often went against known conventions to win his or her spouse, so also billionaires the world admires and venerates; they took risks, they won!
What of those who don’t win? Who suddenly hear in the distance, voices telling them, “We told you not to marry that girl!”
“Weren’t you satisfied with the money left in your inheritance? Did you have to risk everything and become a pauper?
To such as you, will I take you back to the Niagara.
Boatmen who traverse the St Lawrence river before it falls into the Niagara, see signs all along the river which ask, “Do you have an anchor?”
The sailors in the boat are not told to stop their boat, or not to go farther, but asked if they can weigh anchor when the waters become fast and treacherous. If they can, they are safe, and even before reaching the falls, can throw the same anchor into the turbulent river, and remain still.
This same question needs to be asked to we risk takers. “Do we have an anchor?”
And believe you me, it can never be the anchor of money or love or friends, but something that will hold even when such fail.
And that is the anchor of faith. Faith in a God, who will even at the most treacherous and turbulent times, even when your boat is rocked, not just by perilous currents, but also by overhead storms, will still your perilous ride and keep you safe.
I ever so vividly see the scene of a boat swept by a storm in the Sea of Galilee over two thousand years ago, and the terrified disciples running to wake their Master, their Anchor, who looks at the winds and the waves and shouts, “Peace! Be still!”
“Be still!” That is quiet voice of authority we need to hear, even as we take risks, even as our life moves towards treacherous suicidal falls.
But for that, you need an Anchor..!
Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and author. He blogs at www.bobsbanter.com and can be reached at bobsbanter@gmail.com
