Breakfast on the Beach: A Smorgasbord of Culture & Beauty

Day 6, Sullivan Island & Charleston, SC

As my time here on the east coast and this adventure labeled “Breakfast on the Beach” comes to an end, I pray these meetings with Jesus will extend far beyond my return to the “real world”.  A friend recently wrote to me, “Quiet time is quiet time.  Retreat to…be alone with the Lord is something far different.”  Hurriedness of life often hijacks time alone with the Lord…I’ve written about this before, recently even.  Quiet times are often rushed spiritual minimalism. Full-fledged retreat is considered a luxury.  Yet Jesus set the example, often withdrawing to be alone with the Father.  Jesus never once forgot that His only source of life was in the still quiet places with His Father, and not even His closest friends or family could go there with Him.   

 

Each day here my “outer man” listened to ocean melodies as my “inner man” attended to God’s voice.  And faithfully, each day He poured into me from His Word.  Though I looked forward to this trip as heart preparation for significant medical uncertainties awaiting me back home, God used this opportunity to refocus my soul on my spiritual well being rather than physical healing. The result, an affirming time of respite and renewal basking in the Son.   

 

Perched on a small, sandy patch of Sullivan Island early this morning I watched mesmerized as dolphins played and cavorted  upon waves. Daring proximity to shore, they seemed aware of an audience and were happy to entertain.  What delight to observe them and be reminded of our Creator’s sense of playfulness and appreciation for fun.  In an otherwise intense week, God blessed these moments with levity and elation. 

 

Exploring Charleston consumed the remainder of this day.  My senses embraced meandering in and out of art galleries, markets and meeting houses, wading barefoot in fountains, strolling through lush parks replete with colorful flowers, and charming East Battery row houses. Charleston residents proved remarkably friendly compared to many other places I visited on the east coast. Eager to chat and offer advice on sites not-to-be-missed.  Savory food flavors. Sunshine even more delicious. The Southern Belle in me emerged as I no longer fought a drawl I learned to conceal so many years ago.  I’m reveling in sights & sounds & smells of Charleston and not unlike my moments alone on the beach, I am feeling particularly close to the Lord in this place…interestingly, called the “Holy City”.

Breakfast on the Beach: Tasting Wisdom

Breakfast on the Beach Day 5, St. Simon Island, GA

 

With each encroaching wave, tide rolls in covering a narrow strip of sand.  Six feet, earlier passing for beach in front of my cottage.  Large black rocks and a short wooden staircase lead down to water’s edge.  Surprisingly calm as oceans go, smaller waves lazily waft to jagged shore.  Relaxing on a deck jutting out over water, I’m hypnotized by gentle splashes surrounding me.

 

Curiosity stirs questions… “Father God, what guided your mind as you formed the sea?  Did your breath blow across a sheet of liquid glass to form waves?  How did you arrive at this particular sound?  Did you find as much joy in the resonance as I’m  experiencing in this moment?”

 

Peaceful.  Steady.  Waves keep coming.  No pounding for now—only soft rhythmic bliss repeating a song over and over.  

 

I come before the Lord today seeking wisdom, knowing that the Word of God says wisdom was established before anything else…Wisdom says, “The Lord created me the beginning of his works. Before all else that he made, long ago…long before the earth itself.  When there was no ocean, I was born.”  Proverbs 8:22

 

God, before you saw your reflection in a mirror of still waters, before you breathed life into the ocean, before the first rustle of waves, Wisdom was fashioned at your side, each moment dancing. And you, oh Lord, delighted in it.  You whispered in Wisdom, “Those who love me I love, those who search for me find me.”  Proverbs 8:17 

 

I am searching, I am asking…may I not only find wisdom but love wisdom.  I have come to a point of jagged rocks on the shoreline of my life that refuses me passage through self-reliance.  Lord use this experience to guide me safely over my personal  narrow bridge into the vastness of your Presence where I may delight in Wisdom.

 

“For whosoever finds wisdom, finds life and favor of the Lord.”  Proverbs 8:35

Breakfast on the Beach: Cleansing Tide

Breakfast on the Beach Day 4, St. Augustine, FL

 

Tides rose so high through the night, debris literally litters the beach…thousands of shells & fragments, seaweed in abundance, even occasional pieces of soggy driftwood strewn about.  It’s as if the ocean heaved to dump sea refuse on the shore then receded to distance itself from the ensuing mess.  If an alien landed on this beach at this moment, he might conclude that nothing good or useful comes out of the sea—only pollution that once served a purpose, now rendered useless.

 

How many times in my 40+ years of existence have I felt life relentlessly churn me, then spit me out much like the ocean & these broken shells?  What once shone beautiful & meaningful, now lies reduced to rubbish with little or no value, mere remnants only the most vivid imagination could picture as lovely.  Failed relationships, workplace tensions, ill-placed loyalties, wrong priorities, poor choices, missed opportunities…all waves in the ocean of life with tragic remains sprawled out onshore, scattered in pieces as painful reminders of my fallen state.  My mind renders no reason to believe God could redeem anything from this mess.  Yet the Bible says he gives “beauty for ashes” {Isaiah 61:3}…He exchanges rubble & ruin for temples of glory.  His glory.  In His time.  Just as we cannot change tides’ timing, God’s purposes in our lives cannot be hurried. 

 

Eventually tides swell once again, pulling debris out to sea, sweeping beachfronts clear.  A forceful act of our Divine Creator wiping away all evidence of beach clutter, leaving nothing but pristine sand. How powerful the picture, how precious the reality of what Christ accomplished at Calvary.  In one unselfish act of obedience to his Father, our Savior Jesus washed away life’s clutter, most notably the ugliness of sin and rebellion separating us from our loving God.  Just as waves ebb & flow in constant replenishment & removal of seaweed, our redemption manifests in on-going exchange…our sins for his blood.

 

Averting my eyes from fragmented beach garbage, I follow waves in far off distance merging with endless horizon. This body of water harbors much more than sand and shells beneath my feet. True also of God’s purpose for our lives where beauty and  deep riches remain hidden, unrealized while standing on this shore. 

 

“…it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we will be like Him…” I John 3:2