Beaches and Mountains

Everyone loves a vacation. We all get excited about some time away from our normal routine. Many of us return to the same location year after year for our R and R. Some people travel into the mountains and camp or rent a cottage. They love the woods and mountain lakes. They load up their hiking shoes and camp gear and trek to where the air is cool and fresh. Some travel to the seashore. They load up on sunscreen and reading material looking forward to the roar of the ocean and the sand between their toes. No matter which is your favorite, what is it about beaches and mountains that calls us away from our everyday lives? What is it that speaks so deeply to our spirits that we feel renewed and refreshed?
I love the mountains,, but when it comes to a favorite getaway, I am a beach person. I have come to realize that not just any beach will do. It has to be an ocean beach. And not just any ocean beach satisfies me. It has to be a beach that spreads out for miles, where the ocean breeze cools me in the heat, and where the sky seems to go on forever. I don't mind a crowded beach as long as there are not a lot of people between me and of the ocean. I find that on a beach like that, even if it is crowded, I can feel a sense of isolation and solitude. That sense of being alone with the sky and the ocean is what I love most. Why is that?
There was one year, one very difficult year, when all I wanted in the summer was to go away to the ocean. I wanted it even more because we weren't able to go. The longing was strong to the point of being overwhelming. I began to ask myself and God, "Why do I want this so badly? What is it about the beach that means so much to me?" One day the answer became clear: I feel safe on a beach. When the sand stretches out for miles and the sky seems to swallow the whole earth, I feel small...and safe. Why safe? Doesn't feeling small make us feel vulnerable and at risk? On a beach I am reminded how big God is. As expansive as the ocean or sky is, He is even bigger. He holds it all and me in the palm of His hand. When I feel alone with the sky and the ocean, I really feel alone with God. In that year, when so much of life seemed overwhelmingly difficult, the thought of God being bigger than it all and holding me in His hand made me feel safe. Even though I never made it to the beach that year, the realization of what I was really longing for and that God was just as big while I was at home and in the middle of a trial, gave me comfort.
Whether we love the mountains or the ocean, that sense of our Creator's enormity and creativity and beauty fills our spirits with an awareness of Him. We may not always recognize Him consciously, but we are renewed and refreshed because we have been in His presence.

"The heavens declare the glory of God;  

the skies proclaim the work of His hands." 

(Psalm 19:1)