I had a marvelous day out on the beaches of Tofino earlier this week with some adventurous friends. I realized that Long Beach is my “happy place”. The moment I set eyes on the beach I can’t help but smile. It makes my inner child come alive with joy and playfulness.
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| Peering out at the beach with joy! |
As I walked the beach, heading back to the car, I was deep in thought, about life, about my work at the church and about being out in creation. I realized that church is important to me. It’s a place where I go to pray especially during those dark times but mostly it’s a place where I make connection with people and friends. It’s a time to come together and not only worship but to get caught up with each other’s lives. It gives us community and a common interest. Often at church we will sing the song:
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Lord, send your spirit to this place, Lord listen to your children praying, send us love, send us power send us grace.
I also sing this song when out walking on the trails trying to discern my life or a certain problem that I am having. It calms me and helps me be present in the moment and let go of whatever is troubling me and mostly it strengthens me. I don’t believe in giving God a wish list and constantly praying for things but I do believe in conversation with God. I feel it gives me strength to handle whatever may be happening in my life. I pray for others to have strength and healing too and I believe that when we pray together there is an energy that others can receive and feel.
This week as I walked back across the sandy beach with the strong winds blowing in my face I started once again to pray the song quietly out loud but I soon realized I couldn’t. It didn’t seem write to be praying to God for things that I already had at that moment. I quickly changed the words to:
Lord, listen to your children playing
Lord, I feel your spirit in this place Lord, listen to your children playing I feel your love, I feel your power, thank you for your grace.
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| Walking back along the beach with friends, playing along the way. |
I don’t believe there is any better connection to God a person can have than time spent out in nature, on the trails, up the mountains and hillsides, down along the waters’ shores. It is time well spent, time to be thankful and joyful for all that we have. It brings an inner sense of peace to me, puts a smile on my face and has me laughing in youthful, playful fun. I wish more people would get out and explore this marvelous world and just experience living in the moment.
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| The beauty of creation |
I will remember this day’s adventures with very special friends for a very long time. I will remember the laughter we shared in the cold wind, the joy we felt walking through the water, and the shared closeness we all felt. I will also remember to be thankful to God, not to always be asking but to be thanking for all that I have. It’s an amazing planet we live on. It offers us such joyful, playful moments. I plan to let my inner child play on those beaches again, very soon!
