Spend some time with God’s creation

Published: 08.15.08

Try to achieve some peace with God’s creation so that you can build peace with others.”

Some people find it hard to relax. I know I’m one of them. Beaches are usually a good place to relax. The sun, the sand, the waves combine to present a place for fun and the chance to let life slow down a bit. And yet, when I get to a beach, I often think I need to do something — throw a Frisbee, fly a kite or maybe take a walk and collect shells.

Florida has a lot of beaches. I doubt anyone has ever been able to visit them all. And if they did check out all the beaches, he or she was probably writing a travel guide, so that was not relaxation; that would be a lot of work. Still, I’ve had the opportunity to visit a lot of Florida beaches, from the Big Bend to the Keys, and on both coasts. In fact, in just the last several weeks, due to some visitors in town, I’ve had the occasion to check out four different beaches on the Atlantic coast in the last month, and each time, it takes me a while to learn to sit and relax.

What helps me shift gears? Certainly there is something about the smell of the ocean. And I love watching the sanderlings scurry along, poking their beaks into the beach as the surf recedes, then running on their tiny feet before flitting away – seems they can’t relax, either. They don’t seem as graceful as the gulls, but I enjoy the show.

After a while though, I just settle down and listen. I dig my feet into the sand, close my eyes and take in the sounds. Children laughing. A family talking. A fisherman casting. And eventually, I focus on the waves: the rhythm as they roll and crest and crash, then rush back from the shore. Then again, and again.

On days such as these, I cannot help but think of the waves and tides as the heartbeat of the ocean.

The constant, steady beat fills my ears and resonates through my body. The tides are complex things, controlled by the moon and other gravitation forces. The waves have their own physical properties — a storm or event miles out to sea can have a profound impact on the shore (witness the tsunami that devastated Asia in 2004). And what causes one wave to curl and break at this spot, at this moment, while the next wave rolls gently past? It seems such a simple thing when the waves pulse minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day on the shore, but the ocean, like the heart, is an incredibly complex organ.

Often, you hear of environmentalists likening the ocean to the heart of the planet (and the rainforests to the lungs). These analogies help to underscore the connection we have to the earth, as a provider of so much of our life force. The air we breathe and the water we drink come from the earth. They are connected to the food that comes from the seas and the land. As Pope Benedict XVI said in the 2007 message for the World Day of Peace, “(H)umanity, if it truly desires peace, must be increasingly conscious of the links between natural ecology, or respect for nature, and human ecology. Experience shows that disregard for the environment always harms human coexistence, and vice versa. It becomes more and more evident that there is an inseparable link between peace with creation and peace among men.”

The next time you head to one of Florida’s beaches – and there’s plenty of time left this summer to do so — make some time to put down the Frisbees, fold up the kite, and just listen to the waves. Try to achieve some peace with God’s creation so that you can build peace with others. Listen to the heartbeat of the ocean; listen to your own heartbeat and the heartbeat of the world.

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