The past few weeks have been stressful. Recently I was reminded of a question I was asked years ago, in a time of stress: “Where do you go to be renewed?” And then the instruction: “Go there now!”
The psalmist went to the hills, but not because at the top of the hill everything was visible. The psalmist went to the hills because that was where the psalmist was most able to find God, to find the Holy.
I go the the shore. I get right down close to the edge of the water, where I can hear the steady washing of the waves in response to the pull and push of the tide. That steady beat seeps into my soul - for me it is the heart beat of the Holy. I go to the shore to find God. I listen to the pound of the tidal waves, steady and unstoppable, and I am reminded that God’s love is as unstoppable, as dependable, as constant, as available, and as able to change everything.
But if I do not go to the shore, if I cannot get there, if I stay away from the water, or if I choose a spot that is too busy and loud, I have to listen more closely to realize that reassuring tidal beat has not stopped.
It’s not that God is more evident at the shore - rather, I am more open, more expectant, more ready - and likely more able to confess my need - in those times when I deliberately take myself down to the shore.
In those times I am renewed. My spirit is cleansed, refreshed, for now.
Thanks be to God!
Rev. Sharon Copeman
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