The Sea Is His
Venite
“Come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before God’s presence with thanksgiving;
and raise to the Lord a shout with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God;
you are great above all gods.
In your hand are the caverns of the earth;
and the heights of the hills are yours also.
The sea is yours, for you made it,
and your hands have molded the dry land.
Come, let us bow down and bend the knee,
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For you are our God,
and we are the people of your pasture, and the sheep of your hand.
O that today we would hearken to your voice!”—Psalm 95:1-7.
He hurries in late, with coffee in one hand and keys in another. “Sorry about being late, trying to do too much, too much going on.” I light our candle as a prayer to the Holy Spirit to be present at our meeting. We sit in silence until his breathing becomes less labored. “When I am so busy, my world becomes all about me. I do not feel God’s presence. I wish I knew how to slow down my life and better hear God working in my life,” he finally says.
I tell him I know exactly what he is talking about. But, I let him know it could be different and told him this story.
On our last visit to the Gulf of Mexico, my husband and I rose early whenever possible, sitting out on our balcony and waiting in the dark for the sun to rise. Usually, the sun creeps up, a little pink, a little lighter, and then with a massive crash of light like the cymbals and tympani at the conclusion of a symphony. We become real beach bums for a few days, just sitting or looking out on the changing sea, waiting for the early morning fishermen: the osprey, the fishing boats, the surf fishermen with their accompanying blue heron, waiting for the catch of the day. Soon come the dolphins and the pelicans, swimming and flying and diving back and forth along the shoreline. We take in a world more remarkable than that of our own making.
The Venite from Morning Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer speaks to what happens more than we can express. Paul Tillich, the famous theologian, who spent his lifetime trying to understand God, came and sat by the ocean for the first time and wept uncontrollably as he experienced the vastness of God in the sea—more than he had ever imagined. Sitting by a body of water and observing new life as it emerges each day from under and above the sea, marveling at such a vast world of wonder can be more healing than drugs.
Is it possible to start the day or stop to sit by a body of water during the day? Then, for a half-hour, during lunch or after dinner, stop and allow the rhythm of life on the river, sea or lake to heal you.
It may be more difficult for some to go to the sea unless we live by it. Instead, we can bring up memories of what it was like on our last trip. Perhaps we will also be encouraged to make more memories the next time we are there.
Joanna joannaseibert.com
Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/