Sometimes, the optimal position to position yourself is actually deeper than one would think because when the waves break they are far more difficult to jump.
The other day – one really hot Saturday – my family and I decided to go to the beach.
Being a typical Australian family we have been going to the beach since before our children were born and we have loved it every time.
My mother is unable to swim. As the daughter of a migrant family she was raised to be afraid of the water. Instead of spending time in and around the water, my mother and her family spent their time avoiding the water, which only served to aggravate the problem of her inability to swim. My father, however, is a swimmer.
And so, when I was a little girl and my parents took us to the beach, my mother would dip her toes into he water but my father would take us in turns out into the deep where he would carry us as he jumped the waves. I have always remembered very fondly the feeling of jumping the waves at the beach with my father. And so, from the time they were quite little I used to take my children out into the deep and carry them as we jumped the waves.
Now my children, like me, learned to swim from an early age. And so, the other day, when we went to the beach my children and husband and I went out into the deep to jump the waves.
And while we were jumping those waves I started to think about God – because jumping the waves at the beach is like listening to the Word and Will of God.
You see, when you go out into the deep to jump waves there are a few factors to consider.
Firstly, you must go out at the part of the beach that is sectioned off by the flags. The Surf Lifesavers position the flags at the safest part of the beach to ensure that the swimmers are able to be the most safe in the water and to be supervised. This is like following the Commandments of God. Venerable Fulton Sheen said, “God is anxious that we get the maximum happiness out of life. Such is the purpose of His commandments.” And just as the experience at the beach is safest and most enjoyable if we swim between the flags, so too is life most fulfilling if we follow God’s Commandments.
And then there are the waves themselves. You see when you want to jump the waves, you must position yourself at just the right spot. Sometimes, the optimal position to position yourself is actually deeper than one would think because when the waves break, they are far more difficult to jump. And so, often one must swim out beyond the breaking waves to where they swell and there calmly lift yourself up with each wave that comes. And in doing this, one should turn their back to the wave and listen with their body to the movement of the water so that you can anticipate the wave and move your body effortlessly with the movement of the water. And this is like having faith in God’s plan. Sometimes things seem terrible and even impossible. Sometimes God asks us to do things that seem to be more than we could possibly manage. And in those times it is like moving out into deeper water beyond the breaking waves. And when that happens – though it is scary at the time – it can mean that there is great peace in allowing yourself to be lifted by the water, turning your back on the ocean and allowing the wave to move you up and down.
And I have been thinking about those waves today because it occurs to me that if I could just live my life the way that I jump those waves, God could work such wonders as the world has never known. And today, I pray for the Grace to be able to do just that…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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