The Captain of Our Soul

In our Gospel Doctrine class this Sunday we discussed one of the names given to the Savior in the book of Hebrews: “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” He is our captain, and I loved one of the comments made that the captain of a ship is responsible for it and goes down with the ship. As one article suggests, “The tradition says that the captain should be the last person to leave their ship alive before its sinking, and if they're unable to evacuate the crew and passengers from the ship, the captain will choose not to save himself even if he has an opportunity to do so.” Just as a mortal captain is responsible for the lives of everyone on his ship—to the point of dying to save them—so too is the Savior our captain and died to save all of us from sin. He is the captain of our souls and as such as given His life to saves our souls from death and hell. In the Old Testament when Joshua saw an unknown man he asked him, “Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?” The man responded, “Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come.” the account continues, “And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so” (Joshua 5:14-15). We too must bow before our captain, knowing that He is holy and will lead us to victory in our lives as we humbly let him take charge of our lives and follow Him.

                This verse reminded me of the poem Invictus written by William Ernest Henley and the response from Elder Orson F. Whitney. Henley wrote these words of willpower and fortitude and strength: 

Out of the night that covers me

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

 

In the fell clutch of circumstance,

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

 

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

 

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate

I am the captain of my soul.

Certainly, there is great merit in perseverance and resilience in the face of great trials. Henley was facing the possible amputation of his right leg (he had already lost his left) when he wrote these words. He felt that he could with grit and determination get through the pain and trial by himself as the master of his own fate and the captain of his own soul. About a half a century later, Elder Orson F. Whitney (an apostle) wrote a response including these words: 

Art thou in truth? Then what of him

Who bought thee with his blood?

Who plunged into devouring seas

And snatched thee from the flood?

 

Who bore for all our fallen race

What none but him could bear.—

The God who died that man might live,

And endless glory share?

 

Of what avail thy vaunted strength,

Apart from his vast might?

Pray that his Light may pierce the gloom,

That thou mayest see aright.

 

Men are as bubbles on the wave,

As leaves upon the tree.

Thou, captain of thy soul, forsooth!

Who gave that place to thee?

 

Free will is thine—free agency,

To wield for right or wrong;

But thou must answer unto him

To whom all souls belong.

 

Bend to the dust that head “unbowed,”

Small part of Life’s great whole!

And see in him, and him alone,

The Captain of thy soul.

  

Though we certainly can do much with our will and sheer grit, in the end it is Jesus Christ who is the Captain of our soul as the book of Hebrews declares. It is he who has bought us with His blood and to whom all souls belong. In the end we have no strength outside of Him, and though we have free will and agency, we answer to Him. It is He who died that we might live, and we should turn with all our hearts to Him to captain our journey here in mortality. What matters most is not that we with clenched teeth fight our own battles in life but that we humbly bow before Him and receive His strength to overcome. For, as Nephi declared, “There is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ… whereby man can be saved” (2 Nephi 25:20).