Ellen G. White in Europe 1885-1887

Storm at Sea!

“Monday was uneventful. But on Tuesday, August 11, the weather changed. She wrote with what seemed to be a note of anticipation: EGWE 27.6

“The sea is boisterous. The waves rise high in green and blue and white spray, mingle and dash with force against the porthole.... The boat rocks fearfully and every timber seems to be strained and shocked. There are but few upon deck. The deck is wet. Chairs are tied with ropes. Ropes are stretched from point to point that those who walk on deck may take hold of the ropes to keep from falling. There is indeed a heavy roll. I cannot lie on the sofa. Trunks are rolling about in the staterooms. Satchels are dancing hither and thither.... I am glad to climb up into my berth and lie still. Can rest but little. I have precious seasons of silent prayer. The Lord Jesus seems very near to me. I am so thankful that I can trust in my Saviour at all times.”—Manuscript 16a, 1885. EGWE 27.7

The storm was followed by two days of comparative calm and fog, accompanied by the eerie notes of the fog horn, which in her diary she described as “bellowing out its warning signal that vibrates through every nerve of the body.” EGWE 28.1

And now, as always, she was back to her writing—seven pages on Thursday, ten pages on Friday, ten pages the next Monday.^* She wrote to her son Edson and to her twin sister Elizabeth. She struck off five pages for The Sabbath School Worker. With regularity she wrote in her diary, too, recording events aboard the Cephalonia and her meditations about them. EGWE 28.2

“I thought of those upon the boat who had no faith in God, no hope in Jesus Christ, the world's Redeemer. In sunshine where no danger threatens all is hilarity and full of amusement. But when the vessel is driven by fierce winds and tossed, when peril comes, when life is hanging in the balance, the appetite for amusement is at (an) end.... EGWE 28.3

“Amid the rough waters and the storm and the fog, I felt that Jesus was never nearer to me, never more precious. My faith reposed in God, however dark the surroundings. The faith of the believer is like the ship's compass, the ship may be struggling, with the waves and by the tempest, tossed by the ever restless sea, yet the compass keeps its position, doing its work, maintaining its level amid plunging and tossing, pointing to the pole. I felt that my soul could stay upon God whatever comes, calm waves or boisterous.”—Manuscript 17, 1885. EGWE 28.4

Ellen White also found her mind drawn out again and again to the story of Noah and his faith while sailing aboard the storm-tossed ark. Her familiarity with the Scriptures made it natural for her to draw parallels between her own experiences and those of Bible characters. EGWE 29.1

Finally, on the evening of August 18, the Cephalonia docked at Liverpool. The crossing had taken ten days—all of them packed with interest to the diminutive traveler whose unfailing curiosity and sensitivity to her environment made life a source of endless interest. But she was not a tourist who had come to see the sights. She had earnest work to do for God. EGWE 29.2

Two years later—less two weeks and a day-on August 3, she would begin her homeward journey from the same port, with her busy European adventure a matter of history. EGWE 29.3