Plant set off alone, leaving his support team to monitor his trip by satellite and radio. Everything was going well. Even when a storm disrupted communications, no one worried much. After all, this guy was one of the best sailors and navigators to be found. His boat was equipped with state-of-the-art navigational and emergency equipment. Plant would resume radio contact when everything settled down.

        But Michael Plant was never heard from agan. After numerous attempts to reach him by radio, the Coast Guard sent helicopters out to look for him. They found the Coyote floating upside down. Its captain and sole passenger was never found.

        Why? How could this happen? the experts wondered. Everyone knows that sailboats are very hard to turn over. Their deep keels and massive rudders right themselves. But as the ship was examined, the cause of the tragedy became clear. For all its technological advances and beauty, the Coyote didn't have enough weight beneath the water line. There wasn't enough ballast below to outweigh the fancy gadgetry above. And so it flipped over as it lost its ability to balance in the water."

        Our lives will capsize as well if what lies below the spiritual water line of our lives doesn't outweigh what lies above. No matter how good we may look on the surface, no matter how balanced we may seem, it's what lies below that really counts.

        If we want to live a balanced life, we must concentrate on the underpinnings of that life. Jesus did. He was in constant communion with his Father. We must do the same if we hope to sail successfully through life. And we can! - because the cross purchased the same privilege Christ enjoyed: an intimate one-on-one relationship with God.