at what price greatness?

at what price greatness?

Reid Stowe recently completed an 1152-day nonstop sea voyage.  Mr. Stowe, 58, stayed aboard his schooner Anne these three-plus years without returning to land or restocking.  He built his 70-foot two-masted sailboat to handle the rigors of the deep.  And she did.  Short, stubby masts and super-thick rigging enabled Anne to survive a freak wave off of Cape Horn that rolled her upside down, as well as a collision with a freighter.  The boat held a 1200-gallon tank for catching rainwater and large stores of beans, pasta, rice and oatmeal.  Sprouts grown onboard and all the fish he could catch completed the menu.  Solar panels powered his satellite phone and GPS navigation.  Among Stowe’s objectives:  he wanted to experience the solitude that would be endured by astronauts on any future manned mission to Mars.

So into the history books he goes, smashing numerous records along the way.  But, I ask, “At what price greatness?”

You see, Stowe began his journey accompanied by another record-seeker, Soanya Ahmad, then 23.  But ten months into their voyage, a persistent case of what they thought was seasickness forced Soanya to abandon the trip and she was taken to land by another vessel.  Turns out she was pregnant. She gave birth to their son Darshen in the following months.  Stowe remained at sea, though, in search of the record books.  Seeing Darshen would have to wait till he was 23 months old.  In the lonely interim, Soanya received a verdict against Stowe for unpaid child support in the amount of $10,000.

For Darshen I ask, “At what price greatness?”  Neither father nor son knew the other’s voice when they first met.  Darshen learned to roll over, crawl, walk, run, feed himself, throw a ball, and talk… without his dad.  Mr. Stowe wasn’t there for the early smiles, laughter and songs.  Much less the bonding.

Is it just me, or is something wrong with this picture?  Record books are great, I guess, but I just keep asking myself, “At what price greatness?”

Mulling over this story has brought me to this question:  Does my Heavenly Father look at some of the life-choices I make and think, “Where in the world did he come up with out-of-whack priorities like those?”

We’re all so busy about many things, pressing hard for this or that, but… “At what price greatness?”

Blessings,

Paul


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