A message and a prayer in a bottle

To all the ships at sea and all the ports of call, to my family and to all friends and strangers, this is a message and a prayer.

The message is that my travels taught me a great truth. I already had what everyone is searching for, few ever find. The one person in the world who I was born to love for me. A person like me of tropical riverbank and the south china sea. A person rich in simple treasures. Self-made, self-taught. A harbour where I am forever home. No wind or trouble or even a little death can knock down this house. It may be that most of us write our own life story. Making it up as we go along. But others seem to have lives that are already shaped and planned; inescapable. Perfect as a circle. Others take shape in ways one cannot predict or always understand.

The prayer is that everyone in the world can know this kind of love and be healed by it. If my prayer is heard and there will be an erasing of all guilt and no regrets and an end to all anger.

Lost has been a part of my journey but it has also shown me what is precious. So has the love for which I can only be grateful. Please God, amen.