Puteoli and the Last Temptation of Paul

The voyage up the Italian coast toward Puteoli (Acts 28:13, called Pozzuoli today) and Rome is bittersweet for us as I am sure it was for Paul for we too do not know what life will be like for us after we reach Rome.

Leaving Tropea last week, sailing on our last leg of Paul’s voyage to Puteoli, we took a break at Salerno in order to visit the famous Pompey. What a city! We had visited ruins of Roman cities all over the Mediterranean, but Pompey, destroyed in 79 AD by the eruption of Vesuvius, is more than just the ruins of the public buildings. In Pompey you can wander around on intact streets lined with villas, fast food kiosks, and small business. Paul never made it to Pompey, but he spent years of his life in cities all over the Empire just like it. We left, amazed and impressed by the brilliance and success of the Romans, the power and the glory of their cities, and the lifestyle of the citizens. Perhaps Paul had similar feelings as he neared Rome, the most powerful and glorious of them all.

Did Paul struggle with discouragement as a prisoner heading toward Rome? Paul’s route toward Rome took him within sight of the Galli Islands, famous as the place the Sirens enticed unsuspecting sailors to their deaths with their beautiful singing. The last temptation of Paul was not the Sirens, but more likely the power and glory of Rome that was visible in every harbor, on each island of the Empire. And now he was going to the center of it all, to Rome.

The last temptation of Paul might have been to finally acknowledge the power and the glory of Rome and to doubt the capacity of the Kingdom of God to defeat the evil and supersede the achievements of Rome. The closer Paul got to the heart of the Empire, the farther he was from the Damascus Road. Paul, like Odysseus, heard the seductive call of the Sirens of Rome perhaps better than many others. Like Odysseus, Paul was not fooled. He knew that the beautiful melody was deadly. Like Odysseus, he was bound voluntarily, not to the mast of the ship, but to the cross of Jesus.

But there is a clue that Paul was struggling, for when he met the brothers from Rome on the Appian Way, “he was encouraged.” Acts 28:15

We were not encouraged when we passed by the island of Capri into the Bay of Naples and encountered the most congested sailing of any place in the Mediterranean. Hundreds of powerboats roared by. Ferries charged back and forth. Sailboats criss-crossed the bay. We dodged them all, but when we arrived in Puteoli, we were told for the first time on the voyage that there was absolutely no room for us in any of the many marinas, nor any place in the town harbors, not even a place to anchor overnight. After spending a day at see there is nothing as discouraging. We eventually were granted permission by a sympathetic military officer to anchor in a restricted military anchorage several miles from Puteoli. Like Paul we were saved by Roman military and were grateful.

After spending some time in the area exploring Puteoli, we were joined by Mike Eberly, a graphic artist from Eastern Mennonite University who designed this web site, for the 30 hour sail back to Tropea where we will leave SailingActs for the winter. The wind was favorable as we left the dock, the waves were moderate, we were ready to show Mike just how fun and relaxing sailing could be. What were we dreaming about?

At nightfall, I had reduced sail and started the motor. Janet took the watch from 10:00 p.m. until 2:30 a.m. while I slept. At 2:30 she woke me and I dragged myself out of the bunk and up to the cockpit. The next several hours were wonderful as the almost full moon set, the stars became more brilliant, and I savored the time of reflection alone on our small boat on a dark and peaceful sea. At 4:30 I gradually became aware of a gentle knocking noise somewhere in the engine compartment and spent the next hour searching for the source. Everything looked normal, so we continued. At 7:00 a.m. Mike woke up and joined me in the cockpit and I decided to catch a short nap when I had the opportunity. It was very short. I was woken by a sudden cessation of the knocking and sprang into the cockpit as the motor whirred very quietly now. A quick look into the engine compartment revealed that the propeller shaft had broken loose from the transmission. For the next several hours I tried everything I could think of to temporarily repair the propeller shaft, but with no success. We would have to sail the remaining 30 miles to Tropea, then enter the marina without a motor. Our biggest concern was to reach Tropea before dark.

Miraculously a rare favorable wind began to blow at just the right speed and soon we realized that we would reach Tropea well ahead of nightfall. As we approached we called the marina explaining our situation and as we entered the harbor under sail we were met by a small boat that would push and pull us into our berth. We made it!

We have sailed 3,656 nautical miles, visiting every harbor mentioned in Acts connected with Paul. We have experienced the power and the glory of the Roman Empire, the beauty and fury of the sea, and the protection of God. We have relied on the generosity and good will of strangers.

We have sailed Acts like Paul.

In the next few days I will be hiking along the Appian Way towards Rome and the end of the Book of Acts.

See photos from July 22

Posted on July 22, 2005 11:36 AM