Written to my son Stephen from a Cruise Ship around 2015
I love the water off the deck of these ships- huge splashes off the bow of the boat, on windy nights, crashing down on the deep blue, night ocean- waves that seem to be screaming to me as I walk by: "I'm alive! I'm alive. I'm moving, and flowing and living and celebrating!"
That's what I kind of hear as I am out at night with this water and these waves.
I contrast this with my own sort of stuck, stubborn ways; being stuck in one point of view- holding on to a belief that isn't working out very well, insisting on continuing in a pattern that isn't leading to where I want to go- very different from these frothy, blue and white crashing, splashing, wonderful waves.
They celebrate their motion- their constant change.
They celebrate the power of the currents and winds that move them.
But perhaps most of all, it is the water itself, celebrating our ship as it surges relentlessly on it’s course.
For whereas this water was still and uneventful before our passing, it is transformed to it’s glory by the very thing that may at first seem so jarring- so unexpected and even hard to bear. Such an upset to a sleepy sea.
I hope this is you and me Stephen- that we are flowing with Heavenly Father- that we allow everything in our life to awaken us from our sleep, and passing through us (like the ship), make us brighter, make us cleaner and even more beautiful.
Reference: Agreement 8) Choose the Path of Greatest Opportunity