The Polynesian Voyaging Society of Hawaii (http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/pvs/) is intent upon re-introducing the ways of the ancient Pacific Ocean voyagers. These brilliant travelers rode the waters of the vast ocean without benefit of compass or technical means of finding their way from place to place. Yet they were able to locate the smallest islands where they could exchange and share ideas, plants, and stories with other island dwellers throughout the Pacific. These ancient navigators used only the stars, the winds, the currents, and the gift of God's ingenuity to make their way.

The 2001 Polynesian Voyaging Society continues to prove that in both ancient times and today the navigators and voyagers of the Pacific Island peoples can find their way without benefit of modern technology. The creation of the Ho'kolea Voyaging Vessel has proved that today's people can make their way by reading the natural sea maps of the sky, wind, and waters.

We Christians are voyagers, sojourners, nomads, and wanderers. We seek "home" for our soul and the joy of being with others from whom we can learn and share life itself, with all its events, both gentle and stormy.

Psalm 139:7-12 (NRSV) becomes the comfort and guide for all who sojourn:

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in She'ol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night," even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.

Our land and sea and sky voyagers today are continually seeking to be connected with God and with each other. As voyagers we want to re-link (as in re-ligion) with the Source and Sustenance of life.

The winds of North, South, East, or West blow in our every decision, our daily actions, our daily laughter, our nightly tears, and, most surely, our corporate ways in the church and in society.

In our complex, many-layered world, with links to the world at our fingertips and multiple cultures and languages surrounding us, we are brothers and sisters to the Pharisaic lawyer of Luke 10:25-37. We too ask, "Who is my neighbor? And what does it mean to love our God with all our heart, soul, and mind?"

Pope John Paul II continues to demonstrate the interconnectedness of the countries of the world as he visits the people of this globe, kisses the sacred earth, and invites and scolds the nation-dwellers to "be at peace and love one another as Christ has loved you." No one is outside our 'neighborhood, ' and we are especially called to love, with justice as well as compassion, the Timothy McVeighs, the political enclaves of the church, and the government of the secular world. No one is outside the realm of "precious child of God."

In health and sickness, riches and poverty, we are called to acts of justice and compassion. There are no viable excuses. And the good news is that we are loved in spite of our frailty in matters of faithful living. God forgives us, redeems us, and guides our canoe through the waters if we remain in constant prayer. Praying without ceasing — when we hurt or rage; in darkness of night or brightness of day — is our work in the midst of navigating the winds, waters, and skies of Christian discipleship. To navigate the waters of this world we need such simple models as class leaders and covenant discipleship groups. These models frame the image of loving our God neighbor.

It is my prayer to join with you, wind-by-wind, star-by-star, wave-by-wave, as we "listen" together to God's guidance in this voyage.

Phyllis Tyler is the pastor of Sage-Granada Park United Methodist Church in Alhambra, California. For a semester she sat in on a class on Voyaging held at Kauai Community College on the island of Kauai.