Don't Forget that Love

I had the most amazing spring break in Mexico, due to some really incredible companions. In just one week, we created so many memories at Rocky Point that continued on to a spontaneous trip to Flagstaff and Sedona.

My favorite memory from the trip, though, was an hour a spent on the beach during sunrise on the second day. I was hopping along the black rocks of the "Rocky Point" beach, admiring all the the sharp rocks, the dips, and the flatter areas. I spotted one flatter rock a bit higher than the rest near the edge of the water and thought, "this would be the perfect place to sit and watch the tide come in." You may call me crazy (or more likely neurotic), but I swear that I heard God tell me that God made that little sitting area thousands of years ago because God knew I would sit there that day. I know how that sounds, and maybe you do not believe me. I heard it and stood there shocked at the idea. I pictured that rock underwater thousands of years prior with fish swimming above, slowing eroded and chiseled into the perfect perch.

I stayed for an hour focusing on different aspects for 10 minutes at a time:

1. The waves, and specifically trying to watch the tide get closer wave by wave. The spot was indeed perfect for sitting as the tide came closer. I figured I could sit there to watch the water the tide began to rise to the level of the rock.

2. All of the small crevices, nooks and crannies in the rocks. I though about God making every indention intentionally. This plant can grow in here. This tiny fish can hide from a predator in this hole. I thought about the joy and care God had taken in such a small space, then tried to realize that amount of detail across all the land, under the sea and in all the space in between.

3. Then, I watched the sun's rays as they moved with the passing time, and as those tiny holes in the rocks were filled with light. Shadows moved and evaporated with the motion of the Earth - what seemed to me to be the motion of the Sun.

4. I watched the sun's rays as they illuminated the translucent sea life. The golden brown orbs appeared stick and to delight in capturing the light and holding it close.

5. I closed my eyes and tried to focus my attention on the sound of the waves retracting and shuffling back and forth. As the water smashed into the rocks lightly, thousands of bubbles were created (probably from the oxygen caught in all those tiny crevices). I noticed a light bubbling noise, subtle at first and then amplifying around me as I realized I could hear every one of those tiny bubbles eviscerating as the wave sank backwards. Now, the sound of thousands of bubbles popping was happening before, but now the sound I had not even noticed before pounded in my head and upon my chest.

6. I pressed my hands against the rocks around me. Small gravel from the black rock pressed and stuck into my palm as I pulled lifted it back up. The golden plants from before indeed felt sticky and slick with a thin surface that seemed as if it could be deflated as easily as a bubble of chewing gum. This plant looked and felt vulnerable, though the creature had endured the beating of the waves, and could balance life above and below sea level. I dipped one finger into a warmer pool of water where the plant sat half immersed.

I bent down to rub my hands across the surface of the rocks, but quickly stood up with a rushing sense of embarrassment at the thought that someone might be watching my interaction from the shore. It is a rare thing that we stop to enjoy the same space, to really take in and react to the change that in occurs in just one spot. In fact, some would even call that kind of earthly (or for me spiritual) intimacy crazy. We should appreciate the details woven into the smallest of spaces, in even the most "mundane" spaces.

Life giving intimacy and love can be found in the smallest cracks and overlooked places. Don't forget that great love found sometimes in the smallest of places.

"Light, glorious light
I will go where You shine
Break the dawn, crack the skies
Make the wave right before me
In Your light I will find
All I need, all I need is You"

-All Sons & Daughters