In Love with the Ocean

The ocean is such an unbelievable gift, on Saturday night I was tired and stressed out from a few different things, and my wife and I went for a walk by the ocean after the kids were asleep, and as I listened to all the sounds of the rush of the waves, my heart completely calmed down. Then first thing in the morning, I dove in the ocean to wake up, and believe me Star-Bucks hasn't made a coffee yet to compete with the oceans ability to wake and stir, and bring to life. Then on the beach, my kids literally swam in the surf for 4 straight hours, we kept on begging them to build a castle, or do something on the beach, but the appeal to just ride waves endlessly was too great. That night we had to carry them in from the car, because they feel asleep so quickly, and we weren't far behind, the ocean can wake you up in the morning, and it can knock you out for the greatest sleep of your life at night.

I have said this my whole life, its almost like God placed a healing tonic in the ocean. Here's what I think it is, its so important in life to notice how big the world is, that in life we can go from mystery to mystery, the layers get bigger and bigger if we notice, the mystery gets deeper and deeper. From a blade of grass, to a Rose, to the Ocean at night, and culminating with the beauty of human life. Some of the mystery's don't grab us, but the ocean forces us to take notice, it captures us, it expands our horizons, and makes us believe that anything is possible.

I am reading JRR Tolkiens "The Lord of the Rings", and something really jumped out at me, that when Gollum becomes possessed by the Ring, it says, he stopped noticing the Mountain tops, and the flowers, and his head was always downcast! When I read it, I said wow. Because the Ring symbolizes all wrongful attachment, drugs, money, pornography, power, everything. "He stopped noticing the mountaintops,"

May we never fail to notice the mystery, and may we let the mystery draw us out of ourselves, so we don't walk around like Gollum with our heads downcast.