To the Ocean

The rain is coming down in sheets.  So no work in the yard today.  Which is actually a good thing since I have to pack to leave for Florida in the morning.  I'm so blessed!  I get to go to the sunshine state and walk the beach, listen to the waves, swim, read, eat, and basically veg out!

There's something about being by the ocean that renews me.  I suspect having grown up in a seaside state, MA, the ocean is in my blood.  All I know is that when I see that vast body of water, the waves lapping the shore, the sea gulls wheeling in the sky, my heart quickens and I smile.

My world becomes very small when viewed next to the massive expanse of water.  The ebb and flow of the tides, the myriad of sea life, from the fish to the smallest mollusk, puts everything into perspective for me.

I never go to the beach without thinking of the story/parable that some Saint used to explain the mystery of God and eternal life.  He told of the child who digs a hole in the sand and tries to fill it up with the ocean.  No hole dug on the beach can hold the totality of the sea.  So too is the infinite love of God for us...it's unending.  We cannot comprehend the immensity of God's love.  So while I walk on the beach, I grin when I see a child or cluster of children, busily digging away and slowly carrying up one pail after another of water to pour in the hole.  Or how about the kids who spend their entire day building that waterside fort, barricading the castle with rocks and walls to fend off the encroaching tide?  How industrious they are!  And it seems all for naught.  The tide will wipe out that castle.  The hole will absorb that pail of water.  So why do they try?  Because they can!  Because they just might hold it back.  Children engage in challenges everyday.  They pit themselves against forces they can't comprehend.  And they learn from each and every challenge.

So I'll walk the beach, I'll collect stones that call to me, I'll watch the seagulls wheel about, and I'll meditate.  I'll reflect on the great privilege it is to be near the ocean again.  I'll give thanks for the grace I'm given to enjoy it.  I'll dwell on the ebb and flow of love in my life, on the challenges I've faced since last I was at the sea and contemplate on the ones lying ahead.  And I'll frolick by the ocean as I did as a child.  And maybe I'll even build a sand castle of my own!