God, hushpuppies and a Apple Ugly

That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. And He spoke many things to them... - Matthew 13:1-2

When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea, and the sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds, cleanses me with its noise and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused.                                               - Rainer Maria Rilke

Sometime (O-dark thirty) on Saturday morning my family will be leaving for a two-week sojourn to Cape Hatteras, NC. As we settle in my wife’s parent’s beach house after a twelve-hour drive we will be at our favorite place on the planet. Soon afterwards the unwinding will start and the ocean breeze will start to slough off the remains of the day.

The smell of salt in the air, the warmth on our skin and the seafood…all contribute to the beach bum mentality that we readily adapt to. I can wait to savor hushpuppies and my first Apple Ugly (Think Apple Fritter on steroids) in over two years. Yet, I yearn for something much deeper than those Hatteras treats.

And He spoke many things to them...

The Father uses the ocean to speak to me and that is what I’m really going for. I enjoy all that other stuff but I long for a special connection to God that happens when I am by the sea.

The ocean waves have this effect on me and I feel cleansed and renewed. The wind is strong at Hatteras and some days it whips the sand up furiously, sandblasting you in the process. Even then, there is something spiritual happening and the metaphor of gunk stripping away becomes all too real.

I’m not sure of how much attention my blog will get during these next two weeks but my heart will be getting plenty.

In and for Him,
Jay

 

 

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