I took a very long walk along the ocean this afternoon. It’s a grey day and not a day to sit by the beach and get some sun (there is none today) but that doesn’t prevent spending the day at my church.

Walking along a number of thoughts hit me: First that the beach and the ocean make no class distinctions, no gender distinctions, no race distinctions, no religious belief distinctions, all are welcome and all are treated the same. Second thought that follows that up, people in bathing suits, board shorts, coverups, all kinds of beach attire all look basically the same and all are spending time together without much friction. People tend to be very polite on the beach and even more so in the water itself, [yes there are always some jerks, but it seems like there are far fewer of them by the ocean]. Third, the music…the waves create an ever changing symphony and there is no conductor. The ocean is always in tune, and the various crescendos are always followed by small quiet lulls, always ethereal, never the same.

There is a soul cleansing aura that is present when being by the ocean. There is inclusion, there is serenity, there is fury but that fury is not directed at anyone it simply is. It is a majestic place and one that I honestly hope never loses its wonder for me.

There’s a great quote from Frosty Hesson it will be a fitting coda: We all come from the sea, but we are not all of the sea. Those of us who are, we children of the tides, must return to it again and again, until the day we don’t come back leaving only that which was touched along the way.

That was for you Burt!