In 1686, notorious pirate John Bannister and the crew of his ship, the Golden Fleece, engaged the British Navy in battle around an island just off of the Dominican Republic. They had been hiding and performing maintenance on the ship when they were discovered. Bannister and his crew escaped, but the Golden Fleece was badly damaged and sank, and remained undiscovered for over 320 years.
In his book Pirate Hunters, Robert Kurson describes the search in 2009 by John Chatteron and John Mattera to find the wreck of the Golden Fleece. Legends and stories passed down over the ages had always placed the ship near an island called Cayo Levantado.
A shipwreck expert they consulted with insisted the ship was located off this island. In fact, he was so sure of it, he financed Chatterton and Mattera’s search in the area for over two years. But they never found anything.
After being continually frustrated in their search, they finally realized if they wanted to find what they were looking for, they needed to think differently. They finally recognized that to find a pirate ship, you had to think like a pirate. Seems obvious, but nobody else had for 320 years, which is why everyone else kept pointing them to the wrong island.
So they thought: Where would be the best place to hide a ship and crew for a few days? What kind of defenses could they put up if they were discovered? What’s the escape route? Where would they get fresh water?
And they began to realize that there was no way any respectable pirate would use Cayo Levantado as a hiding place. So they searched for other locations, and they discovered the wreck off a different island several miles away.
We’re all like the pirate hunters, searching for something rare and valuable, whether that is actual sunken treasure, or better relationships, or peace, or meaning and purpose in our lives. However, they didn’t find what they were looking for until they decided to tune out what everyone else was doing and suggesting and insisting, and thought like the person they wanted to be like.
Neither will we – until we begin to think like Jesus. Until we prioritize what He prioritizes. Until our hearts rejoice at the things His heart rejoices over. Until we understand the value of serving and sacrificing for others. In other words, “you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse” (Philippians 4:8, Message).
Who are you thinking like?
Photo credit: Sharon Wahrmund