How do we live in the wild and uncertain sea of life?

A story from the Talmud Bavli, Yevamot 121a:

Rabban Gamliel was traveling by ship and saw off on the horizon, the hull of a wrecked vessel. Immediately he took to grief, knowing that the great Rabbi Akiva had been on board. After sitting shiva for seven days, he rose from his mourning and returned to the yeshivah. Sitting down to study, Rabban Gamliel looked up and saw none other than Rabbi Akiva—who came, sat and begin to study before the law.

“My son,” he said, “who salvaged you from the waters?”

Rabbi Akiva said to me:

דף של ספינה נזדמן לי, וכל גל וגל שבא עלי נענעתי לו ראשי

“A daf of the boat appeared for me, and to every wave that came my way I bowed my head.”

One meaning of “daf” is a plank—a piece of shipwreck floating in the waters. It is something to grab hold of, a flotation device to weather stormy waters.

But the word “daf” is also the word for each whole page (front and back) of the Talmud. Again, a daf—something to grab hold of, a flotation device for stormy waters.

דף של ספינה נזדמן לי, וכל גל וגל שבא עלי נענעתי לו ראשי

“A daf appeared to me, and to every wave that came my way I bowed my head.”

Rabbi Maurice Harris stood at the head of the classroom and on the board, he wrote: THIS IS THE OCEAN. He said: “We can’t assume we know where we stand. We can’t draw boundaries in fluid waters. And we ........teach others to swim while we all try our best to stay afloat.

https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1595282790/wbtlaorg/lxezouahsior8any7vr4/TalmudTales-Session18-GodsPrayer.pdf