Lately I’ve had a hard time blogging. I’m a tight jumble of thoughts and emotions these days and I’m having trouble unraveling them into English. So I thought I would recycle an old entry that is one of my favs!
Psalm 107:24 “They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep.”
My husband and I made our way over to Cocoa Beach one day on a break from a techie (computer Geek) conference he was attending. Walking along the beach, we came to a pier. A pier is a happenin’ place for every beach-lovers appetite. There’s a place for the serious fishermen, the spectating diners, the thrill-seeking surfers, the beach enjoyers, and even the occasional curious (or hungry) shark. In fact, one was spotted near the surfers tonight (I even risked my life to get his picture)!
As I thought about the three in particular interacting with each other (fisherman, surfer, sharks), I mentally constructed a “rock-paper-scissors” game in process. Surfer annoys the fisherman, shark gets the surfer, fisherman gets the shark…and so on. I even came up with hand gestures!
But as I continued to ponder the evening beach scene playing out its familiar rhythm, I marveled at the story the sea had to tell. All these elements at the beach had one thing in common…one thing that led them each to a different perspective and level of interaction, yet all together at the same time. It was the beautiful, mesmerizing, deep, dangerous, unpredictable, unfathomable, untamable, inexhaustible, irresistible qualities of the sea.
I think people’s relationships with God correspond to those on and around that pier. Like the ocean, many of us are drawn, mysteriously and irresistibly toward this massive force of God’s divine nature. God’s depths, mysteries, and maginficence are inexhaustible. We each approach Him from a different perspective, reason, and level of desire.
The spectating diners: These people are happy to sit on the fringes and watch the ocean activities without ever experiencing first hand or getting wet. To them the ocean is amusing, but not alluring. They hear about the ocean and see its effects, but they don’t (want to) know it personally.
The beach enjoyers: Life’s a beach! It’s all about pleasure and play with no commitment. Just go in far enough to have fun, get a little wet, but don’t risk, don’t learn, don’t fully experience, don’t explore the deep.
The serious fishermen: They go to the ocean with a request, but never without one. It’s all about what they can get, but not about a two-way give and take relationship. And if the provision is too small, they throw it back hoping for a bigger, better response.
The dangerous sharks: They have a reputation and for good reason. They were born in the water so they know nothing different. It’s their way of life, but they don’t appreciate or experience it the way a person who is hot and parched would. Since the ocean has always been a part of their lives, they don’t comprehend what they have—they don’t see the mystery and the beauty because they are dulled and unresponsive to the life they’ve always known. So they turn their focus on devouring those who haven’t the experience or opportunities they have taken for granted.
Ahhh, feel the joy…
The thrill-seeking surfers: They are driven to enjoy the ocean with inexhaustible passion and desire, despite risk. They face dangers from tides, aquatic life (sharks!), drowning, and injury on a daily basis…all in order to live, love, experience, and feast on the joys and relationship they have with the ocean. They give of themselves, tirelessly applying themselves to learning the moves, feeling the waves, and catching the ride from early in the morning until late at night. Their love for the relationship is so pure and so complete, commitment to the mystery and beauty of the ocean stops at nothing.
That is the story from the sea. And while I have been in the place of each of those ocean visitors in my life, I made up my mind long ago…surfing the deep is where I want to live.