A selection from The Pilgrimage!

...Grandmother had saved some from her early years in school and some were found when they sorted through their belongings after they died. I was so happy my grandparents had kept them. They gave me a glimpse inside my mother’s heart and I was able to see her in a way that would otherwise have been impossible.

My favorite was on top. Carefully, I held the old yellowed page written in my mother’s small and elegant script now faded and blurred. A creative writing assignment for an English class, she wrote of her love of the ocean---something we both shared and delighted in.

The Ocean

The beach is busy today—so many people enjoying the sun and the surf. I often wonder if they experience the seashore as I do…in my soul. We are mysteriously linked, the ocean and me—perhaps because it is the place where my heart feels most at rest. When I think of the ocean, I think of home and a sense of gladness fills my being.

Come with me, on an enchanted journey. Our destination is a place of serene tranquility. Where rest and contentment may settle into the heart; no matter how troubled inside you may feel at the moment. Experience the ocean through my eyes.

I love the warmth of the gritty sand as it slips beneath my feet each time I take a step. Dancing in the briny waves as they churn in and out is exciting. You can feel the awesome power of the deep. I’ve tasted the salty water and breathed in the crisp fragrant air. The mist dampens my hair and leaves it hanging in long soft ringlets and when the wind blows it lifts and pushes it against my face. And the music…the glorious music of the noisy gulls circling overhead somehow blends in peacefully with the roar of the waves as they break majestically upon the shore. It inspires me!

The warm summer sun shines brightly upon the massive charging waters until little by little it moves through the sky and slowly disappears beyond the horizon leaving only a stream of brilliant orange color upon the now darkening waters. The blue quickly turns to purple and before long descends into blackness, only the frothy peaks of white foam bubbles remain visible in the darkness.

Occasional gems of light from the starry skies above glisten like diamonds on the immense pool of darkness and the cold of the deep creeps up into my soul as I stand and listen to the waves quietly beating in the night. I am alone but never lonely. The peace of God fills my heart and my soul longs to praise the One that gives so completely to feed my being with His Love.

The morning comes quickly as the first glimpse of sunlight pours onto the beach and diffuses the darkness of the night. The sand is reddish-brown once again, the waves endlessly churning are bright blue, and the gulls begin to circle overhead and are joined by a flock of sandpipers scampering on the shore. Seashells and seaweed and pieces of driftwood decorate the sand with natural beauty. A new day has arisen, and life begins again.

Here I stand, like a tiny grain of sand, small and insignificant and surrounded by the billions of others clustered about me, alone but never lonely. Why? God is with me. He created the world. He gave it to us as a gift. We plunged it into darkness with sin. But wait...a new day dawns, He has resurrected it and me.

My journey to the beach has ended; but my journey with God continues on.