The facelessness causes the most fear. Our incapable senses cannot hear, feel, taste or see it, but it is out there, lurking around the globe, waiting to attach itself to an unwitting victim.

That which we hear is damning and what we see instigates yet unknown fear. Our bodies are tense, like high tension wires. It causes heart palpitations and leaves us feeling tight around the chest.

Peter is from the Ukraine. In all his years of working at sea, he has never seen anything like this. His fear of angry seas had been tamed ages ago. Experience allowed him to survive storms and remain steadfast, calm behind the steer of the majestic ore carrier. He knew that that storm would also pass.

Yet, this angry chaos is different from angry seas. It is faceless, odourless and silent. It travels through the universe and this makes it something to be feared above all. It causes Peter's normally calm character to shatter. He often feels broken down in an unknown mass of unchartered waters of fear.

When the CSO chaplain talks to him about this, the acknowledgement does not come easily. After all, he is a manly man. He is a seaman. He has no fear. He is no sissy… but now, this problem changes perspectives.

He does not necessarily fear for himself, but also for those that are threatened by the faceless monster at home. Perhaps we will never see them again. Perhaps he will never get to say the things he always wanted to say, but did not…

Their conversation is about the invisible. It is about the reality that we cannot see. It is about the fear it creates. When they calmly talk about it and read from the Bible that is now Peter's proud possession, he becomes aware of the fact that there is healing and trust in something else that we cannot see either. It is the opposite of the damning situation that we hear about. It is the opposite of the fear that we see. The clenching feeling we feel in our chests is caused by something invisible and inaudible...

Be still and know, I am the Lord. 
Be still and know, I Am.
Be still and know. 
Be still.
Be.

Much later, as he put the Bible under his arm, he cannot help but hold out his hand in spite of the invisible virus. While shaking hands (for the record we did the sanitizing bit afterwards), he explains that he needs to share this Invisible reality with every other person on board the ship. In this invisible there is comfort. When he shares this with his crew, the Invisible becomes visible.