Summer is here and for most people that means holidays!
For many, any decent holiday involves heading for the
beach. Whether it is a day trip to the seaside, a stay cation to our own lovely coast, or going abroad to bluer seas and
whiter beaches, the sea just smells like summer!
There is something magical about the sounds of the sea lapping on a
beach, and the gentle sound of waves, lapping too and fro. However,
the sea is very changeable. For several years of my life, I lived close to the
sea and saw it in all its changing moods. Indeed, I once broke a so-called
indestructible Silver Cross pram by daily dragging it over large stones that
a high tide had smashed all over the promenade in the middle of winter!
Life is very much like the sea, always in a state of flux, always flowing ever
changing from high tide to low tide with the sea’s tides.
...Life is very much like the sea...
Just this week I have been reading a book of reflection and prayers written
by David Adam called “Tides and Seasons”. David was Vicar of Holy Island
in Lindisfarne for 13 years and is a rich source of Celtic Spirituality which
is very much based on nature and creation. In this book he argues that
life is not in fact a journey, going steadily forward towards the final goal,
but like the sea – tidal. It starts with our youth, the incoming tide. This is
a time of excitement and opportunity, looking forward to the sea rolling
in, but can also be an uncertain time where we don’t really know what is
coming. Next comes the full tide, the middle years when we live life to the
full. These usually are our best years, but can also lead to floods, when
we can be overwhelmed. But then, we realise that our strength
is beginning to ebb away. We realise the tide is turning and
the ebb tide has come -the Autumn of our lives. Finally, we
get the low tide, the winter, where we experience loss and
finally death.
But looking at your life, you realise that life is not that
straight forward. Indeed, I can hear readers in one of these
seasons of life shouting at me that at the moment they are
experiencing a very different tide, maybe better, maybe
worse! And that is because the sea is in a constant state of flux, forever changing, bringing different tides. You may be youthful and experiencing low tide, a time full of loss and
emptiness, when the sea seems very far away. God may seem far off, but
he is still there, offering you Resurrection Hope of new life to come. And
remember. Low tide is the time beach- combers love, because the sea
... the sea comes back - a new beginning ...
as it retreats reveals its treasures left behind. The loss maybe of a job,
a relationship, or it maybe the death of a loved one. Search that empty
shoreline and find the lost treasures, the memories and experiences left
behind. And yes, eventually the tide will turn. The end of one thing always
heralds the new.
The sea comes back in an incoming tide, a new beginning, new
opportunities, a new chapter. New hope. This may however be a
frightening time, full of insecurity. You don’t know which way the tide is
coming and you may be afraid it will cut you off. Again, lean into God, he
will guide you on a safe path through. Then we are back to full tide, the
sweet spot. This is a busy time, and it can be overwhelming. We often tend
to forget God and indeed forget our own needs and maybe start to sink.
This is the time to think about treading water!
Take that holiday! Or just allow some quiet time to reflect, regroup
and find a moment of His Peace! Then, perhaps gradually or perhaps
unexpectedly the tide changes and you feel the sea ebbing away from
you. You have no control; the tide is dragging you back to sea. But this is
only a season. Soon the tides change and the sea flows in again. We must
experience the ebb tide if we want to experience the flow.
Of course, we all must eventually experience the final low tide, but for
Christians this is not a scary place because, as we stand on that final shore
on which the waters disappear, we look to that other shore beyond the
sea, the eternal shore where we will dwell with God forever.
May God grant you a happy and enriching holiday time.
With every blessing,