I saw three ships

Have you ever taken a voyage on a tall ship? It's an adventure we most warmly recommend in our travel story on New Zealand in Spotlight 12/2010. The December edition of the magazine also contains a quiz on Christmas traditions in the English speaking world. An essential part of those are Christmas carols, merry songs you may already know, like "I Saw Three Ships":

I saw three ships come sailing in
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day.
I saw three ships come sailing in
on Christmas Day in the morning.

And what was in those ships, all three? ...
Our saviour, Christ, and His lady! ...
Pray, whither sailed those ships all three? ...
O, they sailed into Bethlehem.

And all the bells on earth shall ring...
And all the angels in heaven shall sing...
And all the souls on earth shall sing. ...
Then let us all rejoice again!

But what on earth do the words to the song mean? After all, the only ships you might find sailing into Bethlehem are those "ships of the desert", the camels! Actually, the ship is an ancient Christian symbol, representing the Church tossed on a sea of disbelief, navigating through uncharted waters, trying to keep a steady course and finally reaching the safe harbour of Heaven with its cargo of human souls on board. The Church is often compared to Noah's ark, with Peter or Jesus at the helm.

The New Testament tells how Jesus calms the stormy Sea of Galilee and helps his disciples weather the storm before steering them back to shore. In times of persecution, Christians used ships to disguise the sign of the cross, formed by the mast. The name for the central part of the church, the nave — related to "navigate" and "navy" — testifies to this ancient tradition. As for the number three, you'll find it throughout Christianity, from the concept of the Holy Trinity to the three wise men.

We often use maritime metaphors to express getting through challenging times together and setting off into the great unknown. You could include them in a year-end letter to a business partner, as we show on the next page.

Anne Hodgson