I was at the beach this past week, just taking a day for me preparing for the year ahead. This was something I wrote while there sitting on the beach….
It’s cold here today at the beach as I sit here in a hoodie looking, listening, and contemplating the waves. I notice a few things.
First…you can’t really have an ocean without waves. If you do, it’s not an ocean but a pond. Life is a big ocean, massive, beautiful and terrifying at the same time with all its waves and undulations.
So……many……..ups……and……downs
Our emotions and feelings are the same. In the past, who are we kidding in the present even, I’ve often tried when it comes to my emotions and feelings to live in a pond instead of a big wide ocean. The problem with ponds are that they eventually become stagnant. Life has a hard time being sustained in a pond long term. An ocean can sustain so much life but it can surely be scary too. There are things that can kill you in an ocean.
Right now I’m sitting on someone’s steps staring out at a group of surfers. These guys are my heroes, wet suited up and riding the waves, cold be damned. There are about 6 guys out there and they are having a blast. I can hear them hooting and hollering for each other as they catch a great break. It’s all celebration. No one is criticizing how they ride, what wave they choose or even fighting over the waves like they are somehow scarce and in short supply. It strikes me that we do the opposite often and from the shore no less. Too often if not careful we can be found not cheering for someone as they wobbly try to stand up on the waves of life. Instead questions come regarding the wave someone’s chosen to ride, the form they have or how well they stay up, or how bad they wipe out. It strikes me that God is much more like this group of surfers I encountered today. He’s out there in the middle of the waves with us, a smile on his face, screaming widely at every twist and turn, just ecstatic at the ride. He’s hollering joyfully, “You did it, did you see how you took that curl. Oh man what a ride, what an effort. That big one you dropped in on, that must have been so scary not knowing if you could ride one that big or not. And that one, oh boy you ate it totally, but you were doing it…what a ride.” Yeah I think God is way more proud of our efforts than we know, even when we wipeout. And I think he had fun just out there in the waves of life with us, just enjoying the ride.
The last thing that I observed was that these surfers weren’t really all that picky in their wave selection. They are here to surf, not waiting around all day indefinitely for the perfect, best wave. They aren’t concerned that taking one wave may mean they miss something better. They take what comes to them and ride it as best they can in the moment. As we surf through life I think this is one of the hardest things to truly get. I want a nice solid wave that I am certain I can ride without falling. A sure thing, a gimme is what I’m waiting for. But you know what those are? Boring…and lifeless. It’s trying to surf in a pond. When it comes down to it, I want to muster up all my courage and ride life’s biggest waves. And you know what…I just may eat it. I already have a few times. I’ve got some bumps and bruises, some wounds from trying to ride some big waves. And if and when I wipeout again I’m going to pop back back, blow the salt and snot out of my nose and dive back under the next crashing wave. And I’m going to get better at cheering on those around me riding their best life too. Joyfully just like God, saying man…girl…you were doing it. Way to go. Who cares if you fell. Who cares if it hurt…for that moment you were alive gliding with the wave. So today I’m going to go find my ocean and I hope you do too. Paddle as hard as you can into the biggest monster you can find. If you listen closely I think you just may hear a fellow wave rider hooting and hollering for you.
From The Whale's Belly 