This is the second in Siege2Surge, a six-part series that
outlines how a dad’s six Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will equip him to
lead his family spiritually each and every day.
41° 43' N, 49° 57' W: These haunting coordinates mark the spot
where the Titanic went down.
Noon: This is the precise time that you as a husband and dad will
take on water and capsize if you do not master your second Standard Operating
Procedure (SOP).
The stakes are high. The “noonday demon” — the “destruction that
wasteth at noonday” (Ps 91:6), an elusive and fatal spiritual torpor — has come
knocking. A mid-day crisis has arrived at your threshold.
What’s more, your first SOP — the silence you savored, the Word
you heard, the blessings you gave — now seems remote. The sun was soft and low
in the eastern sky then; now it scorches from above. You glance at your screen —
an email from your boss marked “urgent” regarding this afternoon’s meeting,
another terrorist attack in Europe, a doctor’s appointment reminder for your
son’s stress fracture, a bill-pay “reminder” — and realize that you are under
siege and navigating perilously close to shoal water.
Saints for two millennia have hit noon with a plan — and so must
you. The moment has come for you to execute your noon SOP: you must shoot the
sun.
Sighting in on the sun (“shooting the sun”) is a mariner and
naval practice to determine your position at sea. Without shooting the sun each
day at “local noon,” when the sun is at its highest point in the sky, the
navigator is lost. To do this he uses a sextant, an optical tool that by
measuring the angle of the sun above the horizon enables him to determine the
latitude of his ship. If the navigator has done his job well, he can combine
this noon latitude with his other celestial sightings earlier in the day and
confidently confirm his ship’s location, thus showing if it is necessary to
change course to stay on track for his destination.
The first step of your SOP is to shoot the sun and establish your
coordinates. First, get up onto the bridge — away from the churning engines
below deck. In a personal way, fixing your coordinates can only be done through
a direct and focused sighting on the Son through prayer. Just like your first
SOP, this starts with silence. Then say the Angelus, a time-tested prayer that,
like a good sextant, allows you to take an accurate fix of the sun, the Son and
His mother. Whether you are at a nearby daily Mass or in fluorescent-lit cubicle,
your SOP is the same: sight in on the Son, encounter the Son, determine your
coordinates and see if a course change is needed.
The second step of this SOP is to stand in the midday gap for
your wife and children. “The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its
effects” (Jas 5:16). As one called to hand yourself over to your wife “even as
Christ loved the Church” (Eph 5:25), you have the privilege of interceding
before the Lord on behalf of your wife and children, asking the Lord to bless
and draw them closer to Himself. Remember that your SOPs never depend on your
emotions: today you may not feel much like a “righteous man” but drive through
any dry periods and be an intercessor known for his grit and quiet
professionalism. While you’re at it, ask a quiet professional by the name of St.
Joseph to put in a good word for you.
You were already planning on the third and final step of your
SOP: now that you have shot the sun and prayed for your family, call your wife.
(Texting renders a less reliable coordinate). Let her know that you’re thinking
about her.
Though the Titanicsank for many
reasons, it bears noting that her captain, Edward Smith, originally failed his
maritime exams because he lacked sufficient navigating skills.
It’s now 12:01 … 12:05 or 12:10. You still have promises to keep
and miles to go before you sleep, but you know where you are in relation to the
Son. You corrected course just shy of a hidden shoal. The noonday demon fled as
soon as it glimpsed you on deck conferring with the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The surge is on.
Johnson is associate director of the St. Thomas More
Institute.