New Life
In March 1942, the Esso tanker T. C. McCobb was sunk by a German submarine four hundred miles off the northern coast of Brazil. Michael Wajda suffered a severe head wound while trying to abandon ship, and found himself on a raft with two of his shipmates. By the thirty-fifth day both of his shipmates had succumbed to the elements, leaving Wajda alone. On the forty-fifth day he saw the first muddy streaks in the water and knew land was near. He was picked up the next day and taken to a hospital in Georgetown, British Guiana.
Meanwhile, Wajda had been presumed dead for weeks since many of his other shipmates had already been rescued. His family was in mourning when the news of his survival arrived:
“Sea Gives Back Sailor to Jersey Mother,” was the headline in the New York Herald-Tribune on May 21. And that is how Michael Wajda’s mother, in nearby New Jersey, learned that the son she had given up for dead had been returned to life. She abandoned the mourning garments she had worn for a month and joyously awaited the return of her son—whom the news article said she would not recognize in “the red-bearded, sun-blackened young man, gaunt from hunger, who was picked up from a life raft that drifted toward the shore of British Guiana after forty-six days at sea.”94
This is a wonderful story of rebirth. We share the joy of this mother, who was able to abandon her mourning garments after reaching the depths of despair. Christians experience a similar spiritual journey each spring. After a Lenten season of reflection and the shared agony of the Stations of the Cross, we come to the Easter season with a fuller appreciation for the depths of despair. From this perspective, the resurrection of our Savior takes on its full meaning and gives us the ultimate cause for joyful celebration.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”
—Mark 16:6