Part II
(Part one is from April 2007)
Have you ever heard that Augustine once wrote that "God is younger than all else." We know that Jesus warned us that unless we became like children we would never enter the kingdom of heaven. Augustine goes further and says that God is younger than us. That we have become older than God. Our minds so quickly wander and dwell on what is not, when what is is plainly before us.
I felt this quite often at the beach. How easy it is for my children to be present and engaged with the wonders of the ocean itself. I end up thinking about what I could be reading or what I might want to do with my life or that the water is cold. It is better to be young and jump in waves.
It is better to observe the firmaments and the division of the waters and be in awe.
The highlight for me this year was when Isaac saw a stingray in the shallow (and crystal clear water). It was big enough that Matt Yoder was watching it swim nearer and nearer to Isaac from his balcony on the 8th floor. The moment I saw it, I felt very alive. I started running down the beach with it watching it swim. If I am honest, I felt like I got a glimpse of why people travel to far lands to watch wild animals. It was amazing to see this wild and strange looking fish, flapping its wings in the water. I found myself looking for it the next day when I went out for a walk ... and actually I think I will look for it from now on. It was fascinating to realize that if I keep my eyes open I may just see some hilarious space-craft with wings in the water one day again.
May we all become like children and so become like God.
4 comments:
I loved this post, J. Thanks.
I was fortunate to be invited to play on a music cruise back in February. One of the ports of call was Grand Cayman Islands and while there I took an excursion on a small boat, named "Tinkerbell", with about 20 others out to a sand bar in the middle of the ocean. When we arrived there was a whole...flock? School? of stingrays. I got into the water and ran my hands over their backs and their undersides and felt positively joyous. My 29 years faded away and I felt 8 years old again. They feel like, in my humble opinion, like swimming portabella mushrooms...
i remember last year's and i'm happy to see part 2.
swimming mushrooms ... That is very close to the strangeness of the ray. We must become little children ... perhaps whatever it takes (rays, ocean, etc.)
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