THE SHIP THAT CHANGED HISTORY

by CHARLES ROBEY
(MOODY AL USA)

PROLOGUE

Dreams can often be strange bedfellows. When you least expect them, here they come, knocking at our mind’s door, in the darkness of a stormy night.

According to the Internet, dreams are created by the unconscious mind, which is a part of the brain that is not bound to reality. The unconscious mind is always at work, imagining things, twisting reality, and playing tricks on our minds. Dreams are a mix ‘n match of the experiences from our conscious mind that kicks in when that conscious mind drifts off to sleep.

Thus, my dreams often play on a mix up of such events. Sometimes they make sense, other times the scrambled visions are very difficult for my mind to digest.

Being somewhat of a novelist of biblical events, especially the upcoming future, and also an amateur prophecy buff, I tend to look at the past, as well as the present and future.

Have you read your newspaper, tuned in the television news, listened to talk radio, surfed the Internet, talked to your next-door neighbor, or even listened in the modern church service lately? There’s surely plenty to think about, and to write about, in this respect.

You will see within this patriotic-generated blog, our main character is experiencing a rather unique encounter from out of the past. It was in a ship, where it all started. The Mayflower Compact agreement was signed, sealed in good faith, and delivered, as our history recalls.

I trust you will enjoy yet another fictitious parable (an earthly story, with a heavenly meaning) that I have entitled “The Ship That Changed History.”

“Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, dread came upon me, and trembling, and made all my bones shake. Then a spirit passed by my face; The hair of my flesh bristled up. It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; A form was before my eyes; There was silence, then I heard a voice” (Job 4:13-16)

I have always been somewhat of a skeptic of the unknown. Unless I could see it, touch it, or feel it, I had trouble believing it. But something happened, to me of all people. Was it a dream, a vision of sorts, or just a figment of my imagination?

I was in my man cave, relaxing as usual after a grueling week of teaching at the Bible College. I was watching the local drive-by television news. As usual, it was a little depressing. 'Just how long can this progressive socialistic culture go on?' I silently pondered. So, as I began to prepare for bed, I noticed that the television began to fade away and so did my man cave into a dream or vision.

The lightning cracked; the thunder rolled, causing me to suddenly awaken, in the middle of the strangest dream of my entire life. I was mysteriously out in the middle of nowhere. Was it the present or maybe a yesteryear relived? Or could it have been tomorrow? All of the above, I supposed.

The beachhead looked familiar. But why me? Why was I all alone, with no one around? The scenery showed it to be in the middle of the tourist season, but no tourist was in sight.

The weather was beautiful, and the beach was a delight to see. As I walked along the very edge of the water, the sheer beauty of God's creation seemed to still my soul. The serene atmosphere was straight from heaven above.

Way out in the sea, I saw a rather large ship of the past, just serenely sitting there waiting some major event to take place.

A man had come out of the sea soaking wet, sitting down beside me. We were both silent for a time as the warm sea breezes swept across the cool sandy beach. He must have had a rough journey. His boots were covered in seaweed, his clothing was torn, and he appeared tired from the trip inward. But the quiet of the land made him forget his exhaustion. He smiled as if to greet me but spoke not a word.

He appeared to be a middle-aged pilgrim, straight out of the 1600’s. He was wearing a starched white shirt, doublet, stockings, laced up shoes, and broad-brimmed black hat. There was an air of authority about him, and he smiled with confidence and sincerity, as having a task well done. And yet, I could tell, he was as puzzled by me, as I was him.

Finally, he got up and motioned to me to follow him. The next thing I knew, we were apparently inside that old ship, out in the middle of the sea. It was a conference of sorts going on. Sitting around a large round table were many other pilgrims, all in deep thought. The leader then arose and began to speak.

"My fellow countrymen, this Mayflower Compact will be unique because it will be the foundation for our upcoming Declaration of independence. For you see,

“When In the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to separate.”

This introduction was suddenly interrupted. From around the table came a spontaneous flurry of Amens. Grabbing quill pens, inkwells, and parchments, all the men around the table went right to work.

Their old fashion patriotic spirit made me cry.

However, as in my other dreams of late, the scene quickly changed. The sun was setting, and I was back on the beach all alone. No more pilgrim, nor ship out in the sea. I turned around and I was now back home in my comfortable man cave. The phone was ringing off the hook.

“Are you down there, my son? Wake up!" my mother exclaimed. "Have you not heard the good news? It’s all over the airwaves. America’s highest court of the land has struck down all those progressive socialistic laws. Our founding documents are still alive and well.”

Feeling rather sheepish as I remembered my time in the old ship, my reaction was, “Yes, Mom, I know all about it. Amen!”

EPILOGUE

I trust you enjoyed this brief discourse. Can you read between the lines? If you are like me your dreams sometimes take on a mind of their own. My one warning signal, oftentimes is in the form of my counting our grandfather clock's hourly chimes in the middle of the night. This is usually followed by my most unusual dreams.

Winding down from the excitement, I’ll creep into the kitchen for a homemade cookie or two, followed by a chaser of a cool glass of chocolate milk.

My wife calls from our room,” Get back in bed, don’t you know what time it is?”

“Yes dear!” I sigh.

Yes, my friend, I’m well satisfied with our Republic, the land of the free and home of the brave. We see many people risking their lives to enter America, but very few doing the same to exit. And, in spite of it all, we here in America have been graciously blessed.

As someone has said, “If you want to hear from the founding fathers, read the Constitution. If you want to hear the founding fathers speak to you, read the Constitution out loud.” The same could be said of God's word. Amen!

“Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” (Psalm 119:11)

A bit of concluding history, taken from the Internet:

“The Mayflower Compact, originally titled Agreement Between the Settlers of New Plymouth, was the first governing document of our founding country. It was written by the male passengers of the Mayflower, consisting of separatist Puritans, adventurers, and tradesmen. The Puritans were fleeing from religious persecution by King James I of England.

Have you read this important founding Mayflower document? If not, go ahead and do so. Google it. I’ll wait.