In an essay entitled “Message in a Bottle,” Walker Percy asks the reader to imagine a group of people stranded on an island in the middle of the ocean (this simple meditation is loosely based on that scholarly essay). The island is beautiful, the weather is great, and there is plenty of food and water. However, it is not home, and all those folks stranded there would like to get home. But there is only one person out of all of them who is serious about really doing anything to make that happen. Let’s call him John.
Right from the beginning when they were stranded after a shipwreck, John was telling everyone that they must make some preparations to help them be seen and get rescued. “We must constantly be on the watch for passing ships or airplanes, and then we must be ready to signal them,” he would say. “We must build a great pile of wood that we can light at any time, and then, that huge fire will call attention to ourselves.” The others helped John build the wood pile, and for a while, they took turns keeping watch. But as time went on and no one ever saw anything, most of them gave up hope of ever being discovered. John, however, never gave up hope, and spent every spare moment watching the sky and the horizon for any sign of a plane or a ship.
One day, while on the beach, John made an amazing discovery. A glass bottle had washed ashore, and in the tightly corked bottle there was a message. John, filled with hope, quickly opened the bottle and read the message. It said, “The Texas Rangers won the World Series in five games.” What a strange message, he thought. Where did it come from? Does this mean someone knows that we are here? And if so, why would they write such a trivial message? And most importantly, would they write again?
John then looked around, and saw several more bottles on the beach. With great excitement, he collected the bottles and read the messages– and then he saw still more bottles and more messages, all dated, and sent over a period of several years. He read them all, and what a strange assortment of messages it was. Here are a few: “Congress in gridlock over budget battle… Meryl Streep nominated for yet another Academy Award… Singer Jimmy Buffet died at the age of 76… Stock market gained 850 points in a single day… Stock market drops dramatically… United States won the Olympic Gold in hockey… Last winter was one of the coldest on record…” And so on.
What strange messages, he thought. Why would anyone even bother to send such an assortment of useless information? He said to himself, “I don’t care about Academy Awards or sports or politics or the stock market. I want to get off this island.” In disgust, he almost threw all the messages back into the ocean– but then John saw one more bottle. He first ignored it, thinking it was probably just more of the same, but out of curiosity he opened it and read the message. And this one was different. It said… “I know you are out there somewhere, and I will come to rescue you. Build a fire and keep it going. I will be leaving soon to try and find you. Remember, keep the fire going so I can spot you. It is a big ocean and I have only a vague idea where you are.” This note was dated quite recently, and it was just the kind of message John had been hoping to find. This was what he had been waiting for ever since they were stranded on that island.
John ran back to tell the others. He started to describe how it all happened; how he first found those useless messages, a few of which he read and then tossed, and then he found that one all-important message. “Let’s get to work,” he said, “we must light the fire now, and we must gather more wood to keep it burning. Someone might already be out there looking for us.” But then to his astonishment, he saw that no one was listening to what he was saying. They were all running after the useless messages, those he just tossed to the wind. “What was that one about Meryl Streep?,” one said. “What were the dates on those messages about the stock market,” and, “Were there any about last year’s Super Bowl?,” said others. “Did you see any about Kim Kardashian?” asked another, “I have been dying to know who she is married to now.”
John could not believe what he was hearing. They were all interested in only the useless messages, and they were ignoring the one and only message that offered any hope at all. “Who cares who won the Super Bowl?,” John shouted at them, “Who cares about Kim Kardashian? We have a chance to get off this island. We have received a message from across the sea, from home, from the place we hope to return to, and we must do as it says and build a fire.” But no one was listening to him. Perhaps they did not believe the message, or perhaps they had given up hope. He didn’t know. All he knew is that they were ignoring the best hope they ever had of being saved. He could not prove to them that the message was true and that they would be rescued. But it was certainly worth doing all they could do to try. There was no other hope. (continued…)
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