We talk about European explorers “discovering” new lands in the 15th and 16th centuries. Of course, they weren’t really discovering anything; they simply became aware of land or oceans that were already there, but they had never seen.

Europeans had long dreamed of finding a sea route to India. India was the land of spices, in those days a commodity more valuable than gold.  The merchants of Venice and Genoa developed a complex system of trade with Arabs and Turks.  Other European merchants and Kings resented this; it made the Venetians and Genoans rich and put control in their hands. 

By the 1400’s European explorers were actively seeking a sea route to India.  It was a way to break the stranglehold of Venetians and Genoans.  European explorers, especially the Portuguese, began explorations down the western coast of Africa.  They established colonies but could not find the end of the continent.

Part of the problem was the farther they went from their home, the more anxious they became.  They were not worried much about falling off the edge of the earth; they were worried about being out of sight of land, in a place they had never been, not knowing when they would get fresh food or water.  Their anxieties made the storms seem bigger.  Every storm seemed to be a signal to turn back and let someone else do the work of exploration.  Funny how fear makes a storm seem fiercer and increases the allure of heading home.

One explorer, Bartolomeu Dias, pushed past his fears and through the storms.  Losing sight of land, he turned east, expecting to run into the coast.  The storms continued.  His crews urged him to turn back.

He turned north and then west, heading back to Portugal.   On March 12, 1488, he saw a cape and no land to the south.  He named it “Cape of Storms,” no doubt memorializing the storms that raged in the meeting of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.  He knew he had found the end of the African continent and possibly the long-sought sea route to India.  He reported his finding to King John of Portugal, who declared that instead of the “Cape of Storms,” the cape should be called “Cape of Good Hope.”  King John knew for thousands of years traders and kings had sought the sea route to India.  This “Cape of Good Hope” was more than a new sea lane; it was a chance to change the economic order in Europe, a hope that there could be new opportunities.

Ten years later (things moved slower then), Vasco de Gama followed Dias’ route and again saw the cape as the turning point to sail east.  He completed the voyage to India and is credited with changing the way the world saw itself.  People could be connected across vast distances and interact across cultures.  Venice and Genoa did not know it, but their days of exerting control and power were coming to an end.

The Portuguese government eventually ordered two crosses erected on the Cape of Good Hope.  One honored Dias; the other, de Gama.  When a ship or boat enters False Bay (that really is its name), they must avoid Whittle’s Rock, a large, submerged rock that can sink a ship.  If the sailor lines up the two crosses on the Cape of Good Hope and keeps the bow of his or her ship lined up on the crosses, he or she will stay in the safe channel and avoid the rocks.  Staying lined up on the crosses shows you the safe harbor from the storms.

There are many submerged rocks that want to snag you.  Some are temptations that become addictions.  Some are people who want to harm you or take advantage of you.  Still, other rocks are the unforeseen crisis of health and finances that snag us without warning.  How do you find your way into the harbor safe and sound?

You line up on the cross.  You remember that Jesus is at work in your life.  Stay focused on him.  Do not let today’s crisis control your life.  When you are tempted to look in another direction, stop and think.  There are rocks out there.  They will sink you.  But not if you line up on Jesus.