The word “Navy” comes from the Latin word “Navis,” which means “Ship.” The word was first used in English in the early 14th Century, adapted from the French word “Navie,” meaning a fleet of ships.
Interestingly, “Navy” was originally used to describe both military and commercial fleets. Today, the word “Navy” is used to describe a military fleet, while the term “Merchant Navy” is used to describe a commercial fleet.
Military historians credit the Egyptians as one of the first great global military powers. They are also credited with forming the first organized Navy, which they used to rapidly move troops along the Nile, dating back to around 2700-2200 BC during the Old Kingdom.
As a side note, the Minoan civilization had a significant presence in the Mediterranean as far back as 2700 BC, but do not appear to be as organized as their Egyptian counterparts.
The first recorded sea battle occurred in 1278 BC near the Nile delta, between a force led by the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II and the “Sea People” who were likely the ancient ancestors of the Philistines.
The Phoenicians developed advanced seafaring capabilities around 2500 BC, maintaining powerful maritime forces. Ancient Mesopotamian civilizations used reed boats for warfare on rivers and in the Persian Gulf.
The Navy of the Magadha Kingdom, in ancient India, is considered another of the world’s ancient maritime forces. Its origins are traced as far back as the 6th Century BC.
The Magadha Kingdom’s navy was part of a military that included infantry, cavalry, chariots, and elephants. Their ships were large and sturdy, with single, double, or triple masts. They were equipped with up to a hundred oars and used to transport thousands of troops across vast distances.
The world’s oldest continuing serving Navy is the Portuguese Navy, known as the Armada Portuguesa. It was chartered in 1317 by King Dinis of Portugal and has remained in continuous service.
One thing these Naval groups all had in common, and it remains a commonality of all ships (military, commercial, or recreational) today, is the fact that before these ships could set sail, they had to be released from the moorings that held them captive to the dock or pier.
They have to “cast off” the mooring lines that prevent them from moving.
This is the focus of today’s teaching,
The term “cast off” means to release a mooring line, essentially setting a ship free from its secured position at a dock or pier, allowing it to depart. Literally, it means to “let go” of the lines holding the ship in place so it can move freely.
Its origin stems from the literal act of “casting” (to throw) a line off a maritime vessel to set it free.
To “cast” is the act of releasing a restraint.
Herein lies today’s leadership lesson.
Throughout our lives, we are going to experience times when our interactions with other people don’t go well. There are times when we will be offended, hurt, wounded, abandoned, embarrassed, humiliated, wrongly accused, or injured in some way. At that moment, we have a choice to make.
We either allow the offense of another person to hold us hostage, anchoring us to that moment, mooring our thoughts and emotions to the pier of offense, or will we refuse to be held hostage, choose not to be bound to the past, and we free ourselves from negative thoughts and emotions that hold us back.
We can choose to Forgive.
Forgiveness is the “casting off” of an offense.
You cannot be free to move into your Destiny or achieve your full potential if you are bound up or tied down with unforgiveness.
Offenses happen all the time. We experience offenses in our relationships, at work, while commuting, when we’re shopping, or simply when we are minding our own business.
Sometimes, through no fault of our own, we are wrongly accused and have to defend ourselves in a court of law. A financial institution makes a mistake and a check bounces. Someone steals our identity, and bogus charges appear on a credit card in our name.
Offenses can and do happen all the time.
We can’t always control what happens to us, but we CAN control how we respond.
The one thing we can control is our THOUGHTS.
Remember, as you think, you become.
We can choose to get bitter, or we can choose instead to get better.
We can choose to remain in that moment, imprisoning ourselves in a world of negative thoughts and emotions, seeking revenge or payback, or we can choose a different path.
We can choose, instead, to “cast off” so we can be free.
We can forgive; or, choose to live in unforgiveness.
So, what happens when we choose to live in unforgiveness?
Unforgiveness, like a mooring line, weighs us down.
A mooring line on a naval vessel weighs between 50 and 100 pounds per 100 feet of line. The typical length is one and a half times the length of the ship. The average length of a naval vessel is 500 feet. A standard naval vessel typically uses six mooring lines when docked. Larger vessels use more.
Do the math. That’s 325 to 750 per mooring line. Six lines equates to 1,950 to 3,900 pounds of weight restraining that naval vessel. That’s a LOT of weight.
Unforgiveness, like a mooring line, weighs us down. Every offense we hold on to simply adds more emotional weight to our lives.
Cast it off.
Unforgiveness also impedes our progress.
When a naval vessel is moored to a pier, it can only move a few feet in any direction, depending on the available slack in the line. To protect the pier from damage, the slack in the mooring line is minimized to restrict movement. The slack allows the vessel to rise and fall with the tide but severely limits its range of motion.
By the same token, when we hold on to unforgiveness, we find ourselves trapped in a small, confined world of negative thoughts and emotions. We can rise and fall with the surge of emotions we continually relive, but we can’t move past the offense. A vast ocean of opportunity bids us to come and explore, but we’re unable to leave the pier, as we’ve lashed ourselves to the past.
Naval vessels have limited storage space, so great care must be taken when considering what needs to be loaded into the bowels of the ship. Necessities must take priority over the nonessentials, otherwise the vessel and its crew may not be able to complete the mission.
In the same way, when we fill our lives with unforgiveness, we leave little, if any, room for the “good stuff.” We’ve chosen nonessentials for success over what’s necessary. If the bowels of our lives are stuffed full of the offenses of others, there is no room for opportunity, freedom, prosperity, abundance, peace, or success.
Naval vessels must carefully consider payloads, because they can’t move fast or go far when they are overloaded. Neither can we.
If we overload our lives with unforgiveness, remaining anchored to the past, we cannot move fast nor can we go far.
Why?
We are moored to past offenses.
Dr. Gerald Jampowlsky, author of “Love is Letting Go of Fear” says it well:
“Forgiveness is the key to happiness.”
Remember, casting off is a physical act. When casting off, the crew is actively involved. They are unfastening the lines that anchor the ship to the pier. A vessel can’t release itself until someone takes action to release or detach the mooring line from its anchor point.
By the same token, we have to be INTENTIONAL about the act of forgiveness.
Forgiveness is a choice, a decision to let go and move on.
On a ship, the command to cast off would be given by someone in charge, an officer, who has the authority to order the release of the vessel from its moorings. The officer gives an order, a demand, or a decree to free the ship from its restraints so it can move forward.
Once again, the same is true for us.
The one thing we can control is our thought life.
We have the ability to take any thought and make it obedient to our Will.
We are the Officer in Charge of our Thought Life and it is up to us to give the order, demand, or decree to cast off past offenses and choose to forgive.
Let me leave you with this thought, and paraphrase from the movie, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”:
You must choose, but choose wisely. One choice is unforgiveness. It leaves you where you are, as you are, unchanged, and living in the past. The other choice is forgiveness. It frees you to sail into the Ocean of Opportunity and sail to the Island of Full Potential.
One choice requires you to do nothing, but remain moored to the past.
The other requires you to do something, to give an order and take action to release yourself from the past and set sail for more opportunity, freedom, prosperity, abundance, peace, and success.
You must choose, but choose wisely.
My recommendation, give the order to cast off.
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