TURNING TURTLE by Ada Melville Shaw

Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · Sep 13, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 37.

"TURNING TURTLE."

By Ada Melville Shaw

[By Ada Melville Shaw, in Union Signal.]

THE soul gathers object lessons from every occurrence in this busy world. Here is a piece of information from the New York Navy Yard that sets us thinking:—

"Two cruisers of the navy—the New Orleans and Albany—which were purchased during the emergency before the war between Spain and the United States, have been declared to be a menace to the lives of the officers and men who will serve on them. The worst feature in connection with the condition of these two vessels is that there is no remedy which will insure them from 'turning turtle.'"

The ships are measurably safe while they carry sufficient ballast. As the vessel consumes her fuel supply, she increases her danger. This means constant vigilance to keep the ship from going bottom up, and "the diminution of stores must be watched closely."

How many human ships "turn turtle"! Somehow, this perfectly planned craft has been marred in the building. It was sin that crept in and spoiled things. Those who know, say that the Albany and the New Orleans are too narrow. How sin narrows!

But to look at the noble ship, who would suspect danger? She is trig and tight. She carries gracefully, she makes good speed.

Her weapons are staunch and true, her equipment seems perfect, her colors fling to the breeze with pride. But see! a cloud! The sky darkens, the waves swell and roll in anger. Who fears? The ship is made for storms, but in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, she has turned over. The waves swallow her; her place knoweth her no more forever. And all this by reason of a mistake, a miscalculation. No one meant to build the Albany so as to make her unstable.

The technical terms tell us that "the metacentric height and the center of gravity of weight was twenty-three inches, and was considered fatal to the stability of those vessels."

The mistake in Eden was the acceptance of Satan's measure in place of God's. The mistake of every soul since then has been the same, and this throws the soul-ship out of harmony with the laws that concern her safety.

Our burdens are our ballast; burdens of responsibility, of love, of pain, of work,—wholesome burdens to the wise soul that knows how it needs them. Without them, we are top-

heavy. "To lose your head" in the journey of life is to be lost. The Albany and the New Orleans dare not travel now without heavy freight. The former did good service in the late war, but she encountered no severe storms.

The very best ballast a soul can carry is other souls. The weight of the Albany's crew is one of four hundred and seven men. But this is not enough. The men are not sufficient unto their own safety. We dare not live unto ourselves. Without other ballast we are lost. Lord, lay on us the burden of precious souls!

And mark, the diminution of stores must be watched closely. This is the experience of every individual in the ships of Christian organizations. They are in danger when their soul-freight diminishes. Waning altars and growing selfishness and indifference mean top-heaviness, mean the sinking of the ship.

Lord, give us ballast! Awake us to our danger! Give us stout hearts and strong hands to load the old ship well. So shall we ride the storms, conquer the foe, and reach home—saved ourselves, and saved our precious freight.