… saw the birth of Prince Henry the Navigator.

I am a Star Trek fan, but this man really did ‘boldly go where no man had been before’. In short, he started the European discoveries of the African and Indian coasts. It would be fair to say that before Prince Henry started looking other Europeans were not even aware that there might be something there. His discoveries kick-started the actions of other explorers and other discoveries.

Prince Henry was a real hero. He had a hope and a dream. That hope and dream was that there was more ‘out there’ than he knew about. He wanted to find ‘more’ and to experience more and, rather than just sitting around and thinking or hoping, he took the risk and went out there looking.

I cannot imagine the amount of fear both him and his colleagues must have felt. This is a time when sailors feared sea dragons and falling off the end of the earth – and yet here they were looking .
‘What are you looking for Prince Henry?’
‘Oh, something that I hope is there but, I guess, might not be.’

How brave is that!? Or is it just plain stupidity.

Today, as church, we know there must be more out there. I believe there must be more to experiencing God than what I have experienced God so far. Many of us believe the same. Who are the heroes stepping out and just by there searching encouraging us to do the same?

I think Archbishop Rowan is one. He is an individual who is encouraging people to ‘get out there’ and see what you find. Lets hope all church gets this idea. Lets all go on a hunt and see what we can find – not only will we surprise ourselves, but we may cause others to surprise themselves too.