07 July 2011

Did God put something special in the seas?

Very soon I will be returning for a visit to my beloved Hawaii.  I haven't been to the islands since, I believe, February of 2010.  On the one hand, that isn't that long ago, but on the other hand it feels like forever ago.  My heart longs simply to find a quite spot on the North Shore or at Sunset Beach and read, ponder and pray.
Today I saw post from the Catholic Education Resource Center highlighting a portion of talk Dr. Peter Kreeft gave in 2004 on the spirituality of the sea.  Consider these words (with my emphases):
For me, it is the sea. Even though I get bored easily, I can very happily sit for an hour and watch the waves. I think there must be something God put into the sea to remind us of himself – an image of infinity and depth and power and mystery and dynamic activity all at once. When I use abstract concepts, even the best ones I can find, they just don't hold it – like an open hand trying to hold the water of a wave. It has to emerge from the experience itself. Like the storm from which God answered Job, it remains a mystery.

But the "bottom line," the "payoff," is that I emerge from my hour with a lesson learned. Nature teaches me how to listen. How to listen to waves, and thus how to listen in general, and thus how to listen to God. This is an art I know we all need desperately. If we listened, to other people and to God, we would avoid most of our tragedies, wars, divorces, violence, drugs, broken relationships, pains. How can we have faith, hope, and love without listening? How can we enjoy heaven without enjoying listening? How can we be saved unless we learn to listen to God?

If nature can help even a few of us even a little way toward that goal, is this not something literally priceless? So try it. What can you lose?
My experience at the sea is much the same and this is one of the many reasons for my returns to Hawaii.

I've previously posted a few reflections from my time spent at the ocean here and here
For the curious, I leave for Hawaii - after a planned and cancelled trip last October - on July 18th.

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