Male Journey #15

THE SEA AND THE LAND

One of the most pleasant things that most of us enjoy doing is going to the beach or simply looking at the oean. For me, visiting the sea is a way to calm my heart and give me time to simply stop and enjoy some mental tranquility. For years I have wondered why that was so, and then it hit me: the relationship of the sea to the land is like the relationship between God and man. So simple, but yet so complex.

Listening to the endless sound of the waves crashing against the land made me think of my relationship with God: God is the ocean, waves crashing into the cliffs of the land, gradually trying to end the resistance that the land (my heart) puts up to keep things as they are; the way that life makes me feel comfortable. To keep me in a comfort zone that I have created for myself, and we for ourselves. Over the years, the rock breaks down to become sand as God gets closer and closer to me. But, the question is: will I help him? Or will I continually reenforce the the land to slow or to stop Him giving me his unconditional love? This all really comes to down to the ultimate question which I must face: to accept God's love or reject it? It is really as simple as that, isn't it?

I have been given the free will to accept God's love and his endless invitations, but many times I find that it is easier to reject it and give in to the opposite. For me, and I think for many of us, the way of rejection is easier: immediate gratification and living for the now, as opposed to taking the oftentimes more difficult road of acceptance of God's love... but at what cost?

I ask myslef, "what is the cost of rejecting God's love?" A few laughs? Riches? Power? Acceptance by my peers? These are questions which often cause me (us) to wrestle with my (our) heart(s)... the little voice in my mind. As economists say, "what is the tradeoff?" I (we) ask myself: Do I reject God's love in life, take the easy road and get what in return? Temporary satisfaction? An increased ego? Our modern society encourages us to be "modern, sophisticated people," but are we really? Or are we dupes of an unseen power whose sole purpose is to condemn us to a life of shallow happiness with little or no hope for the future?

So, back to the beach. I relax with the surf as it manhandles the land. I feel the resistance of the land, but I also see the cliff and the sand rolling and washing into the sea and that gives me unboundless hope. I know that God is winning, I know that God will not stop. Am willing to join his thundering surf and gain the full benefits of His love, or will I continue to resist? The final decision is mine. The final decision will shape my future, as the sea shapes the land.