The Sojourner's Rose

Sailors of long ago looked to the heavens to find their way on this earth. Though the seas would churn and the winds would blow, the heavens remained their constant guide. Burning stars above would chart their course across tumultuous seas, the dark depths threatening to claim their lives. Beyond the stars, these sailors spoke of a greater force that they believed kept them safe and guided them home. This was the Divine.

In the center of this piece is the sojourner, represented by a ship. A ‘sojourner’ is a traveler who does not stay in one place for long (Psalm 39:12; Hebrews 11:16; Philippians 3:20). We are merely passing through this world with eternity as our destiny.

The four points of the compass mark the sign of the cross. We find ourselves, the sojourner, bound to the center of the cross, signifying the profundity that it was our place on the cross which Christ died (Romans 5:8).

Perfectly subdividing the four points of the cross are four angels: God’s ordained host of heaven that speak to the protection God has placed around us (2 Samuel 22:3-4; Psalm 91:4). Woven between them are banners bearing the names of the eight winds so- named and adopted by the seafarers during the Middle Ages. Around their feet, encircling the heavens is a laurel wreath: the crown of victory (2 Timothy 4:7).

Parallel to the winds, the eight phases of the moon reminds us that God has marked the seasons (Psalm 104:19; Genesis 1:14) and that we are bound by time, for such a time as this.

Observing the cardinal directions, East and West shout that He has removed us from our transgressions by the work of the cross (Psalm 103:12). It is said that the North Star was considered the guiding light for seafarers, a guiding light from this realm and into the next. Here, North is adorned by the crown of the King, marking it as True North, upon which we set sail. The South is the foot of the cross and tethered by an anchor, wrapped round the sojourner in the center, steadfast and strong (Hebrews 6:19). For a life bound in worship is freedom (1 Corinthians 7:22).

 Lastly, the charge to the Christ-Seeker, the Sailors set for True North:

“True the course of sojourner’s be whose bearings are followed faithfully.”