A private moment

Three sail boats cleared the point and swept across the mouth of the bay at a daring pitch. Their full sails sang to the man about hope and the blue swells they rode on reminded him of the abiding love of God and the support and safety at the heart of the universe. How could he possibly have forgotten all this? How could he have let his life shrink to a thimbleful of daily nonsense? He had promised once, as a young man, to bite into life the way one would bite greedily into a piece of ripe fruit. He had promised to risk himself rather than to wither on the vine. He whispered a word or two of appreciation that his soul was not beyond stirring and considered what he should do next.

His chums, for their part, weren’t quite sure what had happened. The man had simply gone silent. One of those private moments, they supposed – best left alone. And they carried on the discussion without him.