The news broke on Monday night: ten sailors missing after the USS John S. McCain collided with a tanker near Singapore.
Ten sailors missing.
They had been sleeping in their bunks while others managed the ship. I thought about them, mourned their loss all week. Then on Thursday their names were released and one body was found in the flooded interior of the ship.
Today the Wall Street Journal printed their photos on the front page and gave them this headline, taken from the hymn "Eternal Father, strong to save":
".... calm amidst its rage didst sleep."
The second verse is about Jesus sleeping in a boat during a storm on the Sea of Galilee. His followers wakened him, and he stilled the sea (Luke 8:22-25).
Other sailors tell about waking and evacuating their flooding room, trying to find others injured or not able to get to the ladder.
I stare at the sweet faces of these young men who suddenly, unexpectedly lost their lives.
Amidst the constant hullaballoo over dt, these young men did not get enough credit this week.
May their remains be found. May the their souls rest in peace. May their families recover.
My nephew just completed about seven years in the Navy, serving in the Seventh Fleet and for several years on the USS John S. McCain. He slept in about the same area as these men slept. He survived his service in the Navy and now works as a recruiter in Orange County, CA.
Trinity Hymnal
Eternal Father, strong to save — Melita
Original Trinity Hymnal, #629
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm doth bind the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep:
O hear us when we cry to thee
For those in peril on the sea.
O Saviour, whose almighty word
The winds and waves submissive heard,
Who walkedst on the foaming deep
And calm amid its rage didst sleep:
O hear us when we cry to thee
For those in peril on the sea.
O Sacred Spirit, who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
Who badd'st its angry tumult cease,
And gavest light and life and peace:
O hear us when we cry to thee
For those in peril on the sea.
O Trinity of love and pow'r,
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
And ever let there rise to thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm doth bind the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep:
O hear us when we cry to thee
For those in peril on the sea.
O Saviour, whose almighty word
The winds and waves submissive heard,
Who walkedst on the foaming deep
And calm amid its rage didst sleep:
O hear us when we cry to thee
For those in peril on the sea.
O Sacred Spirit, who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
Who badd'st its angry tumult cease,
And gavest light and life and peace:
O hear us when we cry to thee
For those in peril on the sea.
O Trinity of love and pow'r,
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
And ever let there rise to thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.
Page number: Blue 629, Right-Click Here to Download MIDI File
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