Waiting for the Sharks
With Gratitude February 11
“My wish is to ride the tempest, tame the waves, kill the sharks. I will not resign myself.”
-Trieu Thi Trinh
The U.S.S. Indianapolis, a naval heavy cruiser, was sunk by a Japanese submarine on July 30, 1945. This ship had just delivered internal components for the atomic bombs that would a week later destroy millions of lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. It would also effectively end a terrible war that involved 30 countries, lasted 6 bloody years, and cost 75 million total lives.
There were 900 survivors of the attack on the Indianapolis. However, hundreds of those surviving sailors were stuck in the ocean for many hours. One by one, these brave men were picked off by hungry sharks. What a horrifying scene—knowing that a shark could attack at any minute. Other sailors were killed by dehydration or salt poisoning for being desperate enough to drink the sea water. In the end, only 316 men were spared.
Alcoholism is a shark in the water. Once we are sober, it is waiting for just the right opportunity to bite and pull us under the water. We do not know when this will happen. But it is a certainty that this is the tragic end for all alcoholics. It doesn’t have to be that way, but for many of us, it will.
The only chance for my rescue today from the sharks of the sea is a serious AA program: meetings, steps, a sponsor, sponsoring others, service, prayer, God, meditation. All of these. All of the time. It has to be a way of life.
Today’s Prayer
God, thank you for those who gave their lives in sacrifice to something greater than themselves. Let me also be willing to sacrifice for another today.