Perils At Sea And In Space

"'...something made me stop by the temple of Tanith on my way back and put oil in a lamp - not for them, understand, but for all poor mariners, on whom rests the well-being of Tyre.'"
-Poul Anderson, "Ivory, and Apes, and Peacocks" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 229-331 AT p. 302.

"'What can we do about it but tend our private affairs and pray to God for mercy upon helpless beings throughout the galaxy?'"
-The Game Of Empire, CHAPTER FIVE, p. 259.

Different periods, timelines, deities and intelligent species but a common vulnerability.