O Captain! My Captain!
Those words are the first of a famous poem by Walt Whitman. Some people may think of the poem itself but many people my age also think of a Robin Williams movie where a group of students idolize him as their mentor and declare that with these words.
I thought of these words recently when I heard a verse from Hebrews. Hebrews 2:10 reads “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings …”
In writing this article, I decided to look up the entire poem by Whitman. If one reads it in its entirety, the captain is well loved, but tragically dead. So what I thought would connect in one way, did not go exactly as planned, but makes an even stronger point.
You see, I was already going to make the connection that we need to choose the captain of our ship with care. Daniel and I recently watched one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and one of the humorous things is that Jack keeps trying to get everyone to call him Captain Jack Sparrow. That title carries respect and authority.
But I don’t want a captain that will arrive at the port with me dead and missing the welcome! I want the captain who is bringing “sons to glory.” The captain Who did die, but now lives again. I want the captain, that through His death can “release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (verse 15).
Oh captain, my captain? No. Oh Lord, my Lord.
AUTHOR: Amber Tatum
